Tuscarora Endurance Race MASS #1

I awoke this morning with my hips aching, the back of my neck sore, my back sore, the pads of my feet swollen, and my lungs feel like it's a little hard to breathe. If it weren't racing season, I'd be sitting here thinking what the hell just happened to my body. Oh yea. It's mountain biking season...

Yesterday was the Tuscarora Endurance race as #1 of the MASS Endurance Series. It was a good day at the end of it all but it was a bit of a kick in the pants. I usually am down for a nice hurtful early season race but this was brutal. I started to think the past few weeks that the course would be atrocious so it would make more sense to race my singlespeed than to ruin a good race bike. So I found a suspension fork to replace my rigid and swapped over my race wheels. Thought about the gear ratio a bit and took my best guess and headed out to the hills of PA with good thoughts in mind.

As the race went off I hit it hard and started the climb second wheel as I just wanted to sit there for the time being over the ice and snow on the first corner to stay out of trouble. As I was racing an SS in the open field I knew the first climb would be tough so I did my thing and kept to the side to let the others crank by. One by one they came and my strategy was not to blow up on the first hill but ride conservatively and see how I could ramp it up later on, if possible on this non-shifty bike.

I was sitting in 9th at the top of the hill and thought that was ok for how I felt and how strenuous that initial climb was but I was curious of the mud and treachery that lie ahead. It wasn't as bad as last year but on the SS that next hill was a walk and the hike a bike was MUCH longer. I was getting pretty upset knowing that I could ride a lot of this stuff on the geared bike - which I did last year in worse conditions - but with the SS I had to walk. I was even geared pretty light 34-20 and still had all I could do to ride some of it. Thank goodness I didn't reach for my 18 tooth cog.

So through the first lap I got over the walky stuff and finally got to the rock garden that I love. It's hard - but great. I had to wait in line for some riders to clear but once it opened up I had some nice flow going through the bumpy slow stuff. The end is still tricky as hell but that's nothing a dismount and some hoofing couldn't fix. Rolling again I hit the next steep up and it was doable but not worth it. I walked it. Again this was killing me as I know it's a hard but easily ridable section on the geared bike. So I just rode as hard as I could when I was on the bike.

The next downhill and remaining fireroad was a blast but even things like being able to pick a big gear and mash the flat or stuff that pointed downhill was sorely missed. It doesn't seem like a lot but I just knew I was losing time. So I basically forced myself to forget about the other side and just ride. I finished my first lap in 40 minutes which wasn't too bad so onto the next.

The next lap was a little bit more free and I actually cut a negative split with a 39. I was rolling well but I could tell those hills were going to hurt my legs and fast. I did all the same but just tried to stay consistent and last through the hills. This worked until lap 4 when the temps went up just a bit - enough to start turning that initial climb into some slimy goodness. There were a few climbs that just turned soft and made it very challenging to turn the cranks over. At this point I was just hoping for the end and with 4 laps in I knew there would only be two to go.

For the last two laps I rode steady and went over the bars on lap 5 in the rock garden. It had to be done at some point so I was lucky to not hurt myself or really impede my progress. I hopped back on and continued to ride the rest of it, but the end was near. I kept using that as hope and I knew I could finish well. I still had some energy but the single gear was just using it up quickly.

I rolled into the finish at 4:20 for 6 laps completed. It was a great feeling knowing that I rode as well as I could on that horrible contraption and thought that I was 7th or maybe 8th in the open. I didn't ride well, I didn't ride fast, but I was consistent. As a matter of fact I cut another negative split from lap 5 to lap 6 so you could tell I wanted it to be over. I warmed up and cleaned up to check results that were posted to find that I actually came in 4th. How the hell did that happen. I guess I was pretty consistent. The 5th place finisher was 18 minutes behind and 3rd was 6 minutes ahead. It was just a good hard day in the saddle and a good lesson at what I really like to do on a bike - that is to pedal consistently and have gears to change that ratio appropriately.

Thanks to Zach for an awesome race and hopefully this will be a start to a great season. I know I have a lot to work on and it keeps me hopeful for what I can still accomplish with a little blood, sweat, and tears.

2014 Season on Paper Looks Good

I'm in the middle of breaking out of the winter funk and so far so good. With the conclusion of February I am done with my ski team coaching and can refocus again on cycling. The team was so hectic with races and rescheduled races that I had to be ok with not riding for days at a time and meager 6 hour weeks. This was really hard mentally coming from a training standpoint where I like to see no less than 10 hours a week but I digress...

So with my schedule all cleared up I put in some long miles my first full week back and I'm already feeling a LOT better. I rode for 14+ hours and threw in a century as well and feel good. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come. The main focus right now is mileage, some focused intensity, and getting down to race weight. At this point the heart of my season is a couple of months away and that's where the focus is. I'm not worried about the early season as I know I'll be in a deficit given the hard winter I've had. But in 2 months I hope to be flying.

Up on the calendar first is the Tuscarora 4 hour, Michaux 4 hour, and then the real challenge - the Cohutta 100. Either way these races have been great and although I haven't done the Michaux race I know the terrain out there and it should be some great early season training. I just want to get on some dirt and get to mix it up again. I'm hoping Tuscarora has some time to dry out before race day.

New Season Coming SOON!

It's still all snowy and dreary out but the new season is quickly approaching. I am focusing more strictly on endurance races this year and I have a bunch on the calendar at this point. It's not set in stone but it looks pretty busy. I'll be visiting a bunch of familiar states but I'm still looking to sneak a new one in there. Looks like 4 NUE's and a bunch of MASS races with a few others thrown in for good measure.

The winter has been pretty hectic with ski team coaching but with the conclusion of February, the ski season will be over too and it's back to biking full time. I've been getting limited training in but more will come once my schedule clears up. Practice and racing almost every day takes it's toll after a while. So I'm excited for the dirt and long days in the saddle.


More to come...

Recent Race Update

Ok so there's been a bunch of races since I last posted so here we go:

Tymor Park Challenge: Fun brutal course with no legs. 11th of 13

Nittany Lion CX: Crash on lap 1, bent derailleur hanger which caused crappy shifting, fought back from 68th to finish 20th. Not that bad of a performance given the situation.

Silk City CX: Cool race in Manchester CT with a super techy course. It was dry and fast and so were the guys ahead of me. I had a solid ride but still trying to get into cross form. 5th of 19

Westwood Velo CX: Had a great start and was even sitting 2nd wheel at one point as the result of a crash. That wasn't to last. Slipped back to 8th or so then rolled my tubular. Pitted and lost a spot and ended up 9th of 23.

Cooper River CX: Stupid course. Dry, fast, bland, and sprinty. Not my style whatsoever. The only entertaining part was the steps that were rideable. Felt like crap and rode hard trying to get form back after the wedding. 23 of 46.

Marty's Day 2 CX: Started hard but still trying to get the form back after time off from the wedding, and once again plagued with tire issues. Pitted once, fell twice, and was losing motivation to do this whole CX thing. 15th of 26.

Bubble CX: Most fun race course of the year thus far. Technical, hilly, sand, and MORE SAND! It was great and painful all at the same time. I had good luck this day and rode pretty damn well. I couldn't have left more out there. 12th of 23.

Caffeinated CX: A great course to follow up Bubble CX. Techy and turny. Quite a surprise given it was at a fairground and just expected lots of grass. I rode well and fought hard for 3-6 place. Ended up 4th of 8 in a slugfest.

So all in all I've had some good results and some poor results, mostly due to either mechanicals or not riding my bike for 2 weeks to enjoy my wedding which was the best day of my life - it was totally worth it. But now I've got those amazing memories and I'm getting back to riding my bike pretty well. Only 4 more races for me this season it seems. Just a little more cross and then a nice winter full of MTB riding. CX is fun but I'm having a blast on the MTB and I can't wait for next season.

An overdue update.

Ok so it's been a few days since my last update...errr it's been forever since my last update. So here goes...holy crap I'm MARRIED!!! October 6th was the big day and all of my energy was spent helping out my beautiful wife making sure things went as planned and it was amazing. I never had a second thought about marrying Antonella. She's the love of my life and I can't imagine any day going forward without her. The wedding ceremony was perfect, the reception was amazing, and everything went like we planned.

Laughingly though, the stress of the wedding came through the gift that I was giving/building her. Antonella and I have a great appreciation for wine, as she has taught me the ways of wine tasting. So given that love and the fact that she has a TON of wine bottles at home it was only natural that I built her a wine rack. Not just any wine rack but a mega rack. This took a good 3 weeks to a month to conceptualize, plan, deliver, and create. Not to shabby in the end if I say so my self! So tomorrow will actually be week #4 that we have been married and it's awesome. We're working out the behind the scenes logistics and it's all just a crazy dream that finally came true.

Rattling Creek 50 Recap

This was round 3 of this race and once again it was a much different race course than in the past 2 races. Due to some trail issues they ran a 30 mile first lap and then repeated the outer singletrack loop the second time to make the 50 miles. If you haven't done this one before, this is full on mountain biking at it's finest. These trails are some really rocky tough trails and it's an amazing feat to get to the finish line without going over the bars or having mechanicals. This year I did both thankfully!

After a few rough races, I was really hoping to get a good solid race in. So I did what any normal person does, I rode too much during the week, mounted up a brand new tire that I wouldn't have a chance to ride before hand, and headed out to Lykens PA for a battle with the rocks. Last year I took 4th place in a solid field that ended a bit short as there was some course marking issues. This year I was hoping for a better full 50 mile race and it would prove to be just that. Conditions were perfect, weather was cool and dry and the morning was actually cold. It was refreshing. So anywhere here's how it goes...

I took off hard from the start but tried to stay steady and just ride people down and make time through the really rough stuff. I was probably in 12th or so position after the initial STEEP hike a bike and then just stayed patient and rode at the back of a group of 5 for a while until it opened up and we jockeyed for positions. As the lap went on I was riding steady and I started to get through one by one. As each would bobble I kept on it and passed through. I was going back and forth with one rider for most of the first lap until we chatted around mile 24 or so and found out that he was doing the 25 mile race...wonderful. At least as I found out later he was the 25 mile winner. So he dropped off and I headed out onto the second lap of the bumpy wonderful singletrack.

At mile 20 I filled one bottle and put down a pretty good pace relying on the next aid station about 10 miles later. Well that aid station had closed up and I was now out of water...crap. I kept on knowing that the next aid station was at mile 40 but I already felt thirsty so I knew that was a bad sign. I would find out later that at this point I was actually in 3rd place but the dehydration had taken it's toll. I had to meter the power back a bit and just try and get to the next aid station without cramping. In the next few miles Zach Morey and Jed Prentice found their way through but I had no answer with no water. I knew if I tried to get on their wheel I would end up in the fetal position in the bushes somewhere so I let them go. I found water at aid 40 and a little later I got some strength back and started to put the pedals down hard again.

Once I got some water I was able to really enjoy the rocky goodness that is the Rattling Creek. There are so many cool and rugged features you need to ride through around and over that it's really an accomplishment to ride most of this stuff. I was happy to cross the line in 4:48 in 5th place and have a steady solid ride even having a pretty big water issue. If you get the opportunity, check out these trails. If you like some good techy riding, you won't be disappointed.

Status Update - Bulldog Rump, Wilderness 101, 909, Mountain Creek

Well it's been a while since I've posted, but that's for mostly good reasons. My last update was from the Tatanka 100 in Sturgis SD, and there's been a whole lot going on since then. The weekend following the T100 was my best friend's wedding in SLC which was amazing and I am totally amazed at how well it went and very happy that I was able to take part in a huge event in my friend's lives.

On the racing side of the scene, it was great being part of a huge life event but that left some time off the bike which was probably a godsend. I know I always think otherwise but who knows. So from the wedding I went up to Yellowstone for 3 days to check out the wildlife and scenery as it was incredible. I was so busy checking out everything that I didn't mind being away from the bike. On the way out though I stopped off in Jackson to ride and then hit up one other spot in Nebraska before making my way back to NJ and back to normalcy...somewhat. I returned just in time to help out with registration and setup for my team's race - the H2H Bulldog Rump. It was great to help out but I was exhausted from the trip.

To top it off I worked the race and raced it but with heavy legs from the West road trip I didn't know how they would respond. I did pretty well but I was definitely feeling a bit gassed. Overall I still did well finishing 10th of 21 in a really strong field which gave me hope that some fitness was still lingering.

After that came the Wilderness 101. This has to be one of my favorite races of the season, but with some hindsight this was one of the biggest letdowns of the season. My training was off, my prep was off, and life just got in the way for this one. I'd been working a lot the previous days before the race and with some mental stress of making arrangements for my wedding I pretty much went into this race on auto pilot. That's not what you ever want to do for one of these races. I forgot about my hydration and early on I had some bad cramping which would set the stage for the rest of the day. At 2 hours in I was starting to get solid cramps - which usually show their head after 5 or 6 hours. I knew it was going to be a long day. I had to go into survival mode early. Actually it was so bad I had to talk myself out of quitting pretty much every time the course pointed upwards. I had nothing. No motivation, no energy, and just lots of pain. The only thing that kept me going was this promise of new singletrack. That was the biggest help.

For the remainder of the 101 I suffered and wanted to give it all up but I pressed on. I found a little energy at aid 4 and I rode pretty well for the remainder of the course, but it was too little and waaaaay too late. I crossed the line at 8:27, way off my goal, but at least I was reassured by a few who said the course was 30 mins slower than the previous one. I still feel afterwards if I wasn't on the edge of death the entire time that on that same course and feeling good I could cut off a full hour or so. That's why there's always next year.

As for the 909, it was an exhaustion race for me. I did well for two laps and fell flat on my face the last mile to finish a close DFL. I was 55 seconds from 6th place but landed in 9th for dead last as I just couldn't save the gas for the end. Being an endurance guy I was actually pretty happy with the result given what I had been through the previous weeks.

Then for the Mountain Creek race, 3 flats and some bad luck left me on a nice hike for the 3rd lap. I finished but not happily. I felt like I could have done pretty well this race but the rubber gods were not on my side. One of these more recent races has to go well.

Next recap, Rattling Creek 50.