Discovering my limitations the hard way: 6 Hours of DINO Race Report

24 Hours of DINO has come and gone. I had signed up for the 6 hour race on a whim in an effort to fill in the gap left following the end of the DINO XC series. DINO 24 (along with the 12 and 6 hour races) is an endurance race and I have not been training for endurance is several months. Most of my riding and training rides have been in the typical XC race length, less than 15 miles. My longest ride this summer was a 23 mile affair on my single speed at Town Run and a 33 mile pavement ride the week before the race. I had done the 67 mile Gravel Grovel in November and the roughly 52 mile Death March in March, so I knew I could handle the distances. However, for both those rides I spent time training. Plus those two races were primarily on gravel. Versailles is all singletrack.

The night before the race a massive storm front raged throughout Indiana.  My home in Indianapolis got roughly two to three inches of rain and there were widespread reports of wind damage. There was no way the storm was going to miss Versailles, but the weatherman was saying the storms would clear the state by midnight. This would give the trails roughly 12 hours to dry. However, when I checked the radar in the morning, there were still showers over Versailles.

I arrived at Versailles State Park with about 40 minutes before the start. The scene at the start/finish line was impressive. Since the race spans two days, people had very extensive camps and pit areas set up all over.

Part of the sprawling campground set up near the start/finish line.

I wedged in between two 12 hour pits who were equipped to the teeth, including some Christmas lights attached to a car battery. In contrast, here is my “pit” area:

Impressive eh? How much do you really need for 6 hours? I had several bottles of water, Gatorade, a few Balance bars, and a flat bagel with nutella. This snack had served me well at the Gravel Grovel and I was hoping it would work its magic again.

The course covers thirteen miles and uses almost all of the available trail at Versailles, save a bit of the Center Loop. Looking at past results, the most anyone had done in the 6 hour category was five laps. But since this was an open race, those 5 lappers were by elite riders. 4 laps looked doable, and based on my past experience at Versailles, and some past lap times, I thought laps times around 1:10 to 1:15 would be possible. At this rate four laps would put me close to the 6 hour mark. The plan seemed good. Unfortunately, the execution would not be.

We started with a Leman style running start to our bike while carrying either a wheel or seat post. Lacking a quick release seat post clamp, I went with my front wheel and took off at a easy trot to my bike. Initially the race hops onto a short portion of the relatively easy Turtle Loop trail. The only problem was the mud. The rain from the night before had left the course very muddy. However, following Turtle is Creekside, what I would consider the most technical of the trails at Versailles. Think rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. And a few roots. And short but steep gravelish climb. Rocks are fine, but not when the rocks are wet and covered in mud. It was like riding on ice. I was skidding and bouncing around. My Maxxis Ignitors were packed full of mud from Turtle and had no traction. Less than 2 miles in and already I was having a hard time maintaining more than 8 miles an hour. Other riders were also sliding and some lost their momentum on some of the short rocky rises, resulting in a few back ups.. One guy about twenty feet in front of me was going over a rocky hump and all of the sudden let loose with a string of profanity He reached down into his drive train and extracted his no shattered chain. He swore again and commented that he had no chain tool. That reminded me, I left my chain tool at home…..I tired to think about something else besides my own chain deciding to fail.

Creekside kind of peters out into more traditional dirt based single track with a creek crossing following by the aforementioned gravel climb. I got up this no problem and moved onto the Grandview Loop. However, this section was still very muddy and I caught into what turned into a long slow train. The best I could tell was that the train had over twenty riders and I was near the back, although people were hooking onto the back all the time. The problem was the yo yo effect.  On any short hills, rooty sections, or tight turns, there was a drastic slowing which rippled throughout the train. By the time it got back to me, there were times where I was barely moving. Passing was difficult. The muddiness of the trails and the constant sliding made passing treacherous, and honestly, where the hell was passing going to get me? Moving from 18^th to 17^th in the train? We kept this up throughout Grandview. I was getting rather pissed because I knew I could keep a higher speed than we were going. My frustration continued as I was forced to actually stop and hike a few small hills because of the line in front of me. However, the coup de grat was yet to come.

After entering the Cliffside trail, there was a rooty technical section which should have been an easy over. However, a rider a few places in front of me bobbled the roots which resulted everyone behind him coming to a stop. I hopped over the roots, but due to a small gap I had on the riders behind me, they came up on the roots with no traffic and plenty of speed. I tried to get back on the bike before they came through but the hiking had clogged my cleats with mud and my first attempt to get started faltered when both my cleats popped loose causing me to tip over from the lack of momentum. I caught myself on the back slope of the trail, but there was no way for me to get started again before the riders behind caught me and I stepped aside so as to not block the trail. Several folks asked if I was alright and I assured them I was fine. I finally got started and hooked on to the back of these riders. However, Cliffside, seemed more difficult than I remember. Parts of the singeltrack seemed somewhat off camber and mixed in with numerous small wet rocks, I seemed to bouncing all round on the edge of being out of control.

The center piece of Cliffside, besides being built into the side of a very steep slope with a long way down to the creek below, is the waterfall crossing. Unfortunately, no one was taking photos on the actual trail, so all I have are some photos from a ride at Versailles two years ago. Below is a section of Cliffside that somewhat resembles waterfall but isn't. Still, this photo gives an idea of how narrow Cliffside is. Now imagine it covered in mud.

To some the crossing is disconcerting, although I have never had problems corssing it. However, just before this feature, we came to race traffic control. Because of the large trains of riders and the conditions, race workers were stopping riders and letting smaller groups ride the falls. In retrospect this was a good plan. I was in a group with two guys ahead of me and two women, one of whom was the same rider who passed me at the Town Run night race. We made it through the waterfall and moved along to the Shadow Run trail. This trail starts out with one of the longer climbs at Versailles. Like the other climbs, we were in long lines, but I made it to the top and managed to get up some speed.

I will say, I hate Shadow Run. It is about four miles long and it is a very twisty trial which keeps lopping in on itself over and over again, before coming to a fun desecent to the trail head/finish line. Problem is, the trial seems to go on forever. I was in a good line of riders, but just before the desecent, I must have hit a root wrong, and the resulting bounce knocked me up off the saddle and then I hit another root which caused the saddle to pop up and hit me in a rather sensitive area. I felt like I was going to puke and went cross eyed for a few minutes but kept riding. I hit the descent with the same group and immediately we got into a slow motion train. Several faster riders caught up behind us and started making comments that some passes were needed. This was not appreciated and frankly I was pissed. We were again in a long train on muddy and slick singletrack with the star/finish line less than five minutes away. Forcing a pass at this point would have been fool hardy and would have gained nothing. I thought it better to hold tight, focus on descending safely and make any passes on the rapidly approaching exchange area.

I made it to the exchange area and immediately started on my second lap. My plan had been to do the first two laps nonstop and eat on the bike. I still had plenty of water in my Camelback and still had some Gatorade in my one bottle. I had a peanut butter flavored Balance Bar in my back pocket for my lap snack and as I rode through the exchange area and a grassy stretch which followed I tore it open and took a bite. It was terrible. I’ve had this flavor before, but for some reason it seemed dry and hard to chew. I could barely choke it down and shoved it back in my jersey pocket in disgust, just before I reentered single track.

Conditions were much better during this lap. The mud seemed to have dried considerably and it was much easier riding. There was still a few muddy spots but overall the trails had shed the water and dried very well.  Additionally, I was riding either alone or with one or two other riders. Everything had spread out nicely and I was enjoying this lap as opposed to the torturous and frustrating first lap. I kept up a steady pace, although still not fast enough due to random slick spots. I caught a few people and was caught by a few. I passed the aid station and its various treats, instead relying on my Gatorade. I got caught by one of women who I had been riding behind on Shadow earlier. I’m guessing she had stopped for a break and caught me just after the aid station. However, soon after she passed, she bobbled on the same roots where I had bobbled in the first lap, resulting in several riders, including her, passing me. She pulled off to the side and offered the pass, which I declined since she was the faster rider. She took point and while I had sight of her for the rest of the lap, I never did get close.

The lap was going well until the climb up to Shadow. This is not a tough climb, but for the 10 minutes preceding the climb I had begun to feel….weird. Like a mixture of general fatigue and hunger.  On the climb, this feeling came to a head and I began cramping terribly in my right quad, which spread up my leg. This combined with the rapidly increasing fatigue took my speed down terribly. I had drained my Gatorade and suspect that this was the start of a grand bonk. I fought through the remainder of Shadow and made a beeline for my pit area.

I drank some water and Gatorade and refilled my Camel back half way. I had planned on dumping this in order to lighten the load, but decided I would need the easily accessible water. I took a load off and ate my flat bagel and Nuttela, and started to feel better.  I discarded the sad remains of the first balance bar and replaced it with a flavor I have eaten many times while riding. I rested about 8 – 10 minutes and decided to get going. I had finished my first lap at 1:25 pm, while the second was completed at 2:44 p.m., still on track to get four laps. I took off and felt better. The cramps in my leg had passed and the real food had given me a nice burst of energy. I made it through the early trail just fine, but just after getting onto the Grandview trail, I started to get the fatigued feeling again along with some twinges in the leg. Grandview has a series of short climbs which began to sap my energy. On some of them I was barely going 5 miles an hour and was feeling pretty crappy. I limped into the aid station and had an oat meal cookie and an apple. I stayed away from the gels since I rarely use them and didn’t want to have to see the remains of the gel farther along the trail. After a short break, I took off again and continued trekking. However, the cramps came back as did the fatigue, only worse this time. The Shadow climb was agony and I puttered through Shadow proper.

I rolled into the start/finish at around 4:20, plenty of time to complete one more lap. However, the mind was willing, but the body was not. I felt completely destroyed and weak and decided to pull the plug. I had some food and sat in my pit for a few minutes before changing and heading to the Versailles McDonald's for a traditional post race cheeseburger and diet coke. Apparently my request for two cheeseburgers and a diet Coke with NO fries threw the good folks at McDonald's for a loop as I had to wait 15 minutes and explain three times that I did not want fires. Geez. As I drove home eating the burgers, I began to regret ending the race. I had begun to feel better while resting in my pit and eating some food. I had finishedthe third lap with enough time that I could have taken a short break and still likely been OK time wise. Plus I

I learned several things at this race:

1.       Traditional cross country races do not prepare one for endurance events. I need to train like I did for the Gravel Grovel and Death March, i.e. long miles. Next year, I will hit up Fort Ben for a series of increasing mile rides on singletrack, combined with some of the hilly roads in the park. Figure 20, 35, 45, and 55 mile efforts would be sufficient to get me into more of an endurance frame of mind.

2.       Food. I needed to fuel better. I had a shitty breakfast, and my peanut butter Balance Bar fiasco cost me. The Gatorade alone was not sufficient to provide the calories and energy i needed. My Nutella sandwiches were perfect. I need to eat those more often and figure out a pouch or small bag to carry those on my handlebars where I can easily grab and eat one mid ride. Unfortunately, I think the sandwiches I had after lap two were too late. My body was already heading towards a big fail. Also, I need to try a different drink than Gatorade. I like the stuff but there has to be something better out there.

3.       Make use  of aide stations: The aide station was well stocked. If I had not been so focused on getting the second lap done, I could have stopped for three minutes, had a snack, and continued. I think this would have helped me avoid the bonk that hit later that lap.

4.       Learn to like bananas and don’t forget the Tums: In other long rides I have taken Tums along as I read they help prevent cramps. I took one an hour and was fine during those rides. I probably should have brought a few of these along to Versailles. Alternatively, the aide stations had bananas, whose potassium prevents cramps as well. I need to get over my dislike of this fruit and learn to use it to prevent cramping.

So there you have it. My 6 Hours of DINO race. I finished 21 out of 26. The splits are here. My second lap wasn't that bad time wise, Not as fast as I originally wanted, but the realities of the course kind of killed the whole 1:10-1:15 lap times. The positive thing was that my bike performed perfectly. I had taken my singlespeed as my B bike in case anything happened to the Access. Luckily the Monocog never got the call.

I had a good time and will do the race next year. However, I will begin a specific training plan a month or so before versus just winging it. Not much in the way of events this time as most of the mountain bike racing is over. Cyclocross season is heating up but I’ve never been terribly excited about that. There has been some informal short track racing at Town Run lately which is very fun, but I’ll save that for another post. Otherwise, the next big event to prepare for is the Gravel Grovel in late November.

Into the Darkness: Town Run Night Race Report

First, mountain biking at night is a fantastic experience. If you ever have an opportunity to try it out, I whole heartedly encourage you to do so.

With that intro, I participated in what will hopefully be an inaugural night race at Town Run Trail Park on the north side if Indianapolis. To put it simply, it was a blast. Not only was the race held at night, but the course was run backwards, which turned the typically familiar confines of Town Run into a whole new course.

Planet Adventure put on the event and did a great job marking the course and organizing. The only problem was that whether the race was even going off was up in the air two weeks before the race. Not many people had signed up and there was a concerted effort on the HMBA forum to get people to register. Luckily, by the Monday before the race 21 people had signed up and by the Friday of the event the number had increased to 30. I think there were roughly 40 the night of.

The nice thing about the Planet Adventure races is that they include a single speed category for mountain bike races. A SS category was floated for the DINO series a few years ago but I don’t think there was enough interest. Presented with this option, I decided to see how the Monocog 29er would fair in a race situation.  

The single speed race began at 8:50 on August 31. My lighting was a Magicshine 900 on the handlebar and a Nite Rider 300 on my helmet.  I bought both these lights well over a year ago and had not used them on any trail except the Monon since then. Happily, they both worked perfectly.

 

Lining up with the other single speeders. I figured it would be rude
to turn my lightson and blind the race director before we began.

There were only a total of six single speed riders and we all got started five minutes after the Cat 3 men’s wave went off. Originally, single speed was to do one lap but at the line it was decided we’d do two. The race started in a short track area behind the Town Run main parking and first went on about 400 feet of gravel road followed by a sharp right and then a sharp left onto single track.

               Single speed start along with the lone Cat 1/2 woman.

Heading into the single track I was in second, with first place well off the front. Two other riders were right on my tail as we went through the usually last section of the trail which is tight and twisty. They stayed on me until Talking Tree when I let them get around and jumped on their tails. The technical section near the interstate was a bit interesting, although it actually seemed easier going than the normal clockwise. At this point we ran into a few of the Cat 3 riders, which slowed me down and allowed the now second place rider to get a gap. However, I managed to stay with 3^rd place, who I found out was the same rider I had ridden with at the DINO Southwestway race the week before.

Heading into the southern park of the course, or “The Field” was very cool, as you could see other riders in the distance working their way through the course. Kind of a surreal experience. About halfway through the field section the 3^rd place rider lost traction in a sandy turn and I got around him and opened a gap. The final section was uneventful, as I caught several more Cat 3 riders. I started my second lap alone and was riding that way up until Talking Tree when I was caught by a Cat 1/2  woman. She had started at the same time as the single speeders, but she was well ahead of me last I saw. Her reappearance was surprising, and I knew there was no way she was lapping me since she was only doing two laps as well. She stayed ahead of me throughout the last lap, and although I did get fairly close to her a few times in the field, on the return leg she got away. I ended up coming in 3^rd place with a time of one hour twelve minutes. Full results are here. I found out after finishing that the Cat 1/2 woman who passed me had crashed going off of one of several small hills just after the start line, which slowed her down enough for me to get past.

The top two singles speeders had three and two minutes gaps over me in the end. Not exactly, close, but I was still happy to place. The Monocog, while definitely not designed as a race bike, performed admirably and was great fun to ride. I could see using it in future races, although not during a DINO race unless faced the primary bike was down. However, I do plan on riding the single speed more during the winter. Seems like it makes me work harder and its lack of gearing makes the damn icing of the derailleurs a non issue.

One nice thing about the race was that Planet Adventure does podium presentations. It was cool to be on the podium, even with a six person field. Hopefully the DINO series will implement a podiumat some point.

Speaking of the field, here is the majority of single speed field, sans one rider.  The winner is on the far left, standing to my right.

Overall it was a great race and a very fun evening. Hopefully this will be a annual event. There was some post race chatter about a series of night race sat TR and other trails in the area. I think a limited series with perhaps 3 to 4 races would work perfectly, especially if they were timed in the slight lull between the end of the DINO series and cyclocross season. I need to try to do more night riding, although outside of state parks, I am not sure where else this could be done. It was a very unique experience and everyone whop participated seemed top have a good time and was very fired up. Definitely one of the more entertaining evenings I have spent on a bike in quite some time.

Conquering Mann Hill: DINO Southwestway Race Report

Kind of a belated race report, but the DINO season came to an end on August 26 with the race at Southwestway Park in Indianapolis. The Hoosier Mountain Bike Association started building mountain bike trails at Southwestway two years ago with a initial three mile trial which consists of tight and technical singletrack and a long flat levy section and a gravel road climb. Unfortunately, administrative delays have prevented further construction. As a result, the 6.1 mile DINO race loop used a combination of the singletrack, horse trails, hiking trails, and a ¾ mile gravel road section at the start.

I got off to a good start and was in third place on the gravel road section. I think the speed in this section was a little muted, as the dry conditions made the corners a bit hazardous. On several of the turns I could feel my rear tire wanting to slide out which caused me to cut back on the speed.  

Start of the Cat 3 30-39 wave. I'm directly below the "T" in the Start sign. Photo courtesy of Beth Bragg

I was still in third heading into the singletrack, but things began to fall apart when we came to a double log crossing about ½ mile into the MTB trail. I have quite a history with this feature. Riding clockwise, I have only cleared it a handful of times, and have something of a mental block on crossing both logs. Typically I get over the first log, and screw up on the second. The race however was counter clockwise through this section. When I pre-rode the course last week I managed to clear both logs several times. Sure enough, my lack of confidence on this obstacle reared its head and I cleared the first log, but screwed up the second. Five riders quickly passed me up. One mile in, and already I was back in the second half of the 30-39 field with limited passing options in the tight singletrack which lay ahead. 

I caught up to a group of two riders but lost them when another 30-39er they were behind bobbled in a rooty section and allowed them to get by, while I got in behind the rider who bobbled, who was a but slow in regaining speed. The single track ended and the course took a gravel hiking trail down a hill to a long levy section followed by the horse trails. This turned out to be one of the turning points for me. I accelerated on the levee and passed one rider, and then caught up to a group of two riders, including a singlespeed rider, just as we entered the horse trail, which was essentially wide singletrack. The singlespeeder passed the other rider and I followed and we quickly dropped him. The single speeder was keep a great pace so I stuck with him for the remainder of the horse trail. However, next came the climb up Mann Hill. 

Mann Hill is the tallest hill in Marion County and tops out at about 825ft. The climb starts along a old washed out gravel road which climbs up from the river bottoms to the the lower part of the hill, takes a hard left, and then another left onto a steep hiking trail peppered with roots. The climb was kicking my, and everyone else’s, collective asses. I am in decent shape for climbing, and using my bar ends to great effect, I managed to work my way up the hill without stopping while passing several riders (I had no idea their age groups) along the way. There were a huge number of cheering spectators along the climb which helped create a great race atmosphere.

Fighting my way up Mann Hill. Not as many spectators in this section. Photo courtesy of Beth Bragg. 

I was wasted at the top and went through the descent in a haze. Unfortunately during the descent, and the last leg of hiking trail around the back of Mann Hill, I got caught by another rider who I knew was in my age group. 

The second lap went fairly well. I kept the rider who passed me on the backside of Mann Hill in my sights, although I screwed up on damn double log crossing again. I got within about 50 feet of the rider who passed me and as soon as we hit the initial gravel climb up Mann Hill I took off. Making the left turn onto the hiking trail to the “summit,” I risked a glance back and saw no sign of him, or any other rider. I was feeling good about the climb but just before the top I bobbled on a root and came to a screeching halt, which meant it was time for some hike a bike. I pushed the bike the remaining forty feet and still saw no one behind, except for some junior riders walking up the hill. I attacked the descent and the back side of Mann, but no one was chasing. I came into the finish at 1:00:44. By my count I was somewhere around fourth or fifth in my age group, which was where I finished the last two races. As it turns out, I did a bit better and came in second in the 30-39ers, my best age group finish of the season, and 18^th overall.

Wrapping up the DINO season at Southwestway Park. Photo courtesy of Beth Bragg.

I was very pleased with my performance, except for the log crossings.  Too bad I waited this long to finally make a podium, but the last three races I did in the series were all decent, with all three being top twenty overall finishes, and 5^th, 4^th, and 2^nd, place finishes in my age group. In the Cat 3 series standings I ended up 17^th based on my five races. In the DINO series the top five times will be used to calculate the final series standings. I made sure I did exactly five races, so I think my lousy performance at Winona in May really hurt me. Next year, I think I will skip Winona. While a fun course to ride, I didn’t enjoy the race too much, and would have preferred to have raced at Versailles or French Lick.

A Strava file for one lap of the race may be found here. This is not one of my tracks, but still allows you to see the elevation for the Mann Hill climb. Looks like the climb starts at 656 ft and tops out at 825 ft for about 169 feet of elevation gain. Not a bad climb for Marion County Indiana.

In other news, in a moment of questionable sanity, I signed up for 24 Hours of DINO solo six hour race next Saturday, September 8. This race takes place at Versailles and commences at noon. The most laps in the six hour time period wins. I’m not sure my endurance is up to the task, but I mainly want to see if I can get four laps in before the event ends. I handled the Sub 9 Death March just fine back in March and I think my fitness is good. We’ll see how all that plays out.  

Edit: Here is one more photo from Southwestway, with my freakishly long fingers:

  

The Quickest Way from Point A to B is via a Bike Lane

This post is long overdue, but several days ago I made a maiden ride on one of Indianapolis’ new bike lanes. Yes, I commute almost every day, but usually I use greenways. These take but longer but I like the miles and the scenery is better. Plus there are usually (note I said usually…there is another post there) no automobiles flying down the middle of the greenways without reckless abandon. Despite the apparent risk to life and limb, the bike lines are a efficient way to ride downtown.

First a bit of background. Indianapolis has been undergoing a cycling renaissance of late. Over 50 miles of bike lanes have been installed thanks to the advocacy efforts of IndyCog and a mayor who is extremely bike friendly, with a total of 200 planned in the next 12 years. Additionally, the Cultural Trial, a paved multi-use trail has been built throughout downtown, enabling one to ride all over down town, up Massachusetts Avenue, down to Fountain Square and into IUPUI on a designated bike and pedestrian path.  Overall Indianapolis is far more bike friendly than it was even just four years ago when my wife and I purchased our house near Butler University.

Not surprisingly, there have been some issues with drivers complaining about the new lanes. Frankly, I can see their point, having driven many of the same roads. On several roads the lanes were shoehorned into the street and the driving lanes were shifted over. On Capital Avenue, which runs from near our house straight into downtown, this makes the far left lane quite narrow and very close to the left side parking lane. This of course makes people in that lane naturally drift over into the right driving lanes to, which in turn makes those in the right lane use the bike lanes. Kind of a cascade effect which I imagine could end badly if a cyclist was in the lane. Of course, sometimes, even when there is no traffic in the adjacent lane, people will still be driving with half of their cars in the bike lane. Not exactly a confidence inspiring sight.

I took Capital Avenue downtown and I am happy to say, the commute went extremely well. My route was a straight shot downtown, where I then turned onto the Cultural Trial which has an access point right by to my office. No honks from cars, no encroaching vehicles. Total ride time was 17 minutes. Something else I didn’t expect was how hard I would ride downtown. I figured I would take an easy, calm pace. However, I found myself pushing hard to keep up with traffic. Unfortunately, my legs can’t compete with the internal combustion engine.

Bottom line, give the bike lanes a try. The city is demonstrating an exciting burst of progressive thinking with their emphasis on cycling. Utilizing the bike lanes will validate the investment made in this infrastructure device and help drivers become more accustomed to cyclist on the road.