Barry Roubaix Race Report

 

The 2013 edition of the Barry Roubaix is in the books and it was one heck of a race.  The lead up to race day was packed with speculation about the course conditions, and included a course change from two seasonal roads which were still ice covered and trecherous. Other parts were lookign to be mud pits. With the possibility of some serious mud on the horizon, I made sure to pack a rear fender. I picked up my packet Friday afternoon at Hastings HIgh School and while at a gas station on the way to our hotel, I spotted an older gentleman with a mud covered mountain bike. Sure enough, he had been pre-riding the course and reported copious amounts of mud. The fender would be used. 

 

Come Saturday morning, we left our hotel in Kalamazoo and made the 50 minute drive to Hastings. I was in Wave 9, 30-34 y.o., 36 mile. We were set to go off at 10:24 and my wife dropped me off a little east of the start line at around 9:45. After warming up, I added my arm warmers under my long sleeve jersey, along with a pair of baggy shorts since my lower half was very cold. Nutrition was one hammer gel before the start, two bottle of Strawberry Heed, and another Hammer Gel around mile 20. I was then ready to head to the start line:

A "before" picture for the expected mud pit on race day.

Unfortunately, I found that I was near the back of Wave 9. The good news was, the race director was on his game, and each wave was being sent off right on time. As soon as the clock hit 10:24, we were off. Despite my now cold legs, I kicked it up and gained quite a few places on the starting pavement section before we hit dirt.



The menu for the day consisted of ice and dirt.
Photo: Daniel Bonilla

Now would be a good time to mention that although the BR is billed as a gravel race, I didn’t see much gravel. The majority of what we rode was pure dirt road, mostly nicely packed, although a lot was ice covered, with some chewed up sections. Anyway, my legs felt great and I kept up a good pace up to one of the first climbs, a kind if three summit hill I heard someone at the start refer to as the Three Sisters. Leading up to this, was the first of several mini pot holes in the dirt road, along with some wash board sections. These became a regular feature of the race and required some care to navigate, Unfortunately, since they were rather bumpy, there were dozens of water bottles littering the roads in the early part of the race. My water bottles stayed in place here and in later sections, but I know others weren’t so lucky.

In terms of the climb, it wasn’t so bad. My climbing legs showed up and I passed numerous people. After this, the race became a blur. Plenty of dirt, and a lot of dicey ice sections which claimed several riders. I took some care on the ice, and was more conservative on some of the dirt down hills due to a fear of ice. Like in my XC races, although I passed plenty of people on climbs some of them repassed me on downhills. Due to the number of hills, this back and forth continued and I was seeing the same riders over and over again.

Climbling one of many snowy/icy hills (in the green vest).
Only photo I have found of myself from the race so far
Photo Credit: Julie McGraw 

Around the 12 mile mark, we hit a Gun Lake Road, which was short paved downhill, followed by a long climb, followed by another downhill. I tucked in behind a rider named Luke, who I had meant at the start line. He was a triathlete from Michigan and had some good downhill speed. On the uphill, I hit the gas and passed quite a few riders. The next several miles were some pavement followed by dirt and more ice.

At mile 25 you hit a climb called The Killer, a steep wall-like climb with a left turn into more uphill. While steep, I had no problems climbing although the hill was crowded with racers (riding and walking) from all three races (24, 36, and 62 miles). The last 11 miles were fast with nothing terribly difficult.

During this time I ran across one of the stranger sights of the race. I had seen several people walking their bikes with shattered chains in hand or walking back to pick up a lost water bottle. However, I passed a lone bike left on the side of the road, and then its rider jogging away from the bike about 50 feet ahead of me. However, he was running with the race traffic, i.e. he was continuing on the race route without his bike. Still not sure what would cause someone to abandon their bike along a dirt road and start jogging, but to each their own.

Knowing the end was near I started charging hard, at one point passing an SUV which made the mistake of needing to drive on the race course. I hit final pavement stretch and pushed extremely hard. I had my sights set on a group of five riders in front of me but couldn’t quite get there. In the process I passed quite a few other people, and a few cars, before charging into the finish.

Being the first race of the year, my expectations were tempered. My goal had been to finish mid pack in my age group, and to fall into the 2:15-2:30 time spread. I missed the official clock, but in glancing down at my Garmin, I saw my time as 2:03. Well, one goal was met. The standings came out late Saturday and I found out I had come in 35^th out of 124. Not bad, and almost in the top 25%. Overall, I was very satisfied with my performance. The bike worked great with only a few skipped shifts on climbs, but nothing serious. The tires were perfect and only slipped a few times (and no flats!). The carbon fork was fantastic. While suspension would have been nice for the pot holes, the rigid handled those that I didn’t dodge with ease. Best of all, my fitness seems spot on, especially in terms of climbing. Links to GPS tracks can be found on Strava and Ride with GPS.

Also, the fender was not needed. I had little to no mud on me. A cloudy day, mixed with freezing temperatures the night before led to very little mud on the course.

Afterwards I chatted with a few people, and congratulated Luke who had come in a few minute behind me. I watched some of the other racers come in, including the first 62 milers. I also perused the race “village” with food, vendors, and this cool custom made fire pit:

The event itself was run very well, and the town of Hastings was the perfect setting for the start/finish. I had a great time, and felt like I put everything I had into the race. While the Gravel Grovel was more difficult for me, thanks in part to the longer distance, I think I had more fun in this race, despite the lack of gravel as I know it. (although I will always be up for the Gravel Grovel) Here are a few more post race pics:

On a more somber note, there was apparently a medical emergency on the course. A gentleman riding the 36 mile race suffered a heart attack and had to be airlifted out, following some prompt CPR and first aid from a few racers, including a doctor. In thinking back, I think I may have passed him just before this. As I was climbing a hill with a small group we passed a rider going slowly on the left side of the road. Just as we passed I heard a groan and a crash sound. Tossing a quick glance back, I saw this rider on the side of the road, followed by yelling from riders behind us. At the time I had thought he may have hit a patch of ice, or had a mechanical. Knowing that there was a life threatening situation is far more frightening, and I am thankful there were riders present who had the knowledge to render first aid. The last I heard on Facebook the rider was in a local hospital in stable condition. Hopefully he sees a full recovery and those who aided him are publicly recognized for their help.

Anyway, race season 2013 has started. Next event is the tune up race for the DINO series in Indianapolis on April 27. Time to hit some trail!

Mission: Michigan

All packed and ready to head to Michigan for the Barry Roubaix. I have every piece of cycling clothing I own stuffed into a bag and piled by the front door with my shoes and helmet. I’d hate to find out around Fort Wayne that I forgot something, and early morning packing seems to result in such situations. I also realized that this will be my first time in Michigan since graduating law school in 2007. Almost 6 years is too long.

Sentimentality aside, the bike is finalized and ready to roll:

The shifting problems I mentioned in the last post are gone! Turns out the rear quick release was not quite tight enough which messed up the alignment of the rear derailleur. A dumb oversight and a simple fix. I rode the bike to and from work today and it performed great on pavement, crushed limestone, gravel, and hills. Nice to have that resolved. Unfortunately, my wife has been feeling under the weather and I think I might have a touch of her cold as well. The plan is to pop some Nyquil in and get a good night’s sleep.

The plan is to head out tomorrow (Friday) morning with an arrival in Hastings at around 3 pm to pick up my race packet. We’re staying in Kalamazoo so the mission tomorrow night is to find a good restaurant and to scope out a decent breakfast place before heading back to the race.

It should be a great time and a nice kick off to this year’s racing season. I’m in wave 9 (30-34 y.o. 36 miler) which goes off at 10:24 pm. There will be snow and ice, but hopefully everyone rides smartly and we can knock this thing down without any injuries.

Barry Roubaix Weather Watch Part II: UPDATED

UPDATE: Well, circumstances have changed. Apparently while I was finalizing this blog post earlier today, the BR race director was sending out an e-mail noting a reroute the Sager and Shaw Road section discussed below due to the ice situation. Added was some more purportedly maintained dirt roads and pavement. I would think this would make the race faster and therefore, puts to sleep any tire ambivalence. The one catch was a Facebook posting noting that the Hastings area received 5-7 inches of snow last night. There might still be an Epic in here even without the doubletrack of Sager and Shaw. Feel free to read on to my take on the situation prior to receiving the e-mail notice.

The following is an excerpt from the Michigan Mountain Bike Association’s forum discussion that I found last night regarding the upcoming Barry Roubaix. There has been much talk of weather and road conditions the day of the race. This posting is not terribly encouraging:

 "I rode the 36 mile route late this afternoon and thought I would share what I saw. The temps were just below freezing 30-32 and it was sunny I found out this is the worst possible combination. The sun was melting the snow and the water and mud was freezing on the bike. If conditions are like this on Saturday the winner will be the one with the least stops to fix their bike. I had to stop 15-20 times to fix mine and keep it rideable. after 10 miles the small ring was no longer usable as there was to much ice on the F der to get any shifting at all. I tried to break it free but was afraid I would break the Der if I tried any harder. The 2 smallest cogs also were iced over at about the same time. Around 15 miles in the R der had enough ice on it that I lost the two biggest cogs due to ice catching my spokes. Most of the stops were to break ice away from the breaks and stays that were stopping the wheels from turning. I also had to stop 3 times to break ice out of the middle cogs so the chain would catch the teeth and once to free up the ice on the crank arms that were hitting the frame. I did however finish and did not have to carry my bike."

A link to the page itself is here, and it includes photos of the poster’s CX bike following his adventure. Maybe the singlespeed would be better…

So….expectations for the race are slowly shifting into survival mode. Luckily everyone will be in the same boat. The two track section, Sager Rd and Shaw Rd, are both seasonal roads which are more akin to fire roads based on photos I have seen. It appears these two sections, which are uphill in addition to being difficult terrain, usually break people in good weather. This year they are looking to be nothing but ice, snow, and with some mud thrown in for good measure. In short, epic. Hopefully it will be an epic ride, not hike.

I was flirting with using my regular mountain tires, but in the end I have mounted up the 700 x 42 Continental Cyclocross tires I bought for the race. They are still fairly wide (1.65 inches) and have wide spaced knobs. Plus, at this point I don’t want to get into second guessing the equipment. However, these tires were terribly difficult to get on the rim. Never had a more difficult time with a tire and I punctured three tubes in the process. Blah.

This weekend I also disassembled and overhauled my bike, which included adding a new derailleur (X9 over the old X7) and some new grips. I meant to get everything zeroed in over the weekend, but the rebuild took longer than I thought (stupid tires) and I was having some issues getting the shifting just right. I’m going to take it out tonight for a test.

 

Barry Roubaix Weather Watch

A local weather report just mentioned the possibility of a storm coming through next Monday into Tuesday. While this would bring us some rain, the weatherman then mentioned that there could be “significant snow bands across Wisconsin and into the lower peninsula of Michigan.”

Well great. A snow storm in Michigan a few days before the Barry Roubaix. Maybe I should invest in a Fatbike. Snow could make the race interesting and could be fun. Snow melting into mud would make the race interesting in a less fun way. Plus, snow fall doesn’t bode well for any course drying. I’ve been living vicariously through reports of recon rides on the BR Facebook site. These seem dominated with reports that early a.m. riding was fine but conditions are quickly turning into “peanut butter” type mud fairly quickly. Overall very nasty sounding. I was hoping for some mild temperatures this week and next to help dry the course but that is seeming less likely. Still, the report I heard today is for a week out, so the situation is still fluid. Apparently weather is not an exact science and sometimes the weatherman can be wrong.

Ye Olde Stomping Grounds

I first got into cycling seriously while in college at IU in Bloomington Indiana. I somehow got involved with my dorm’s Little 500 team, and although we were not on the lead the lap at the end of the 2002 race (actually very, very, far from the lead lap), we had fun, and I continued to cycle despite missing the 2003 and 2004 races due to a medical issue.  

Anyway, during the time I was riding in Bloomington I became very well acquainted with the various routes around town and the surrounding countryside. Good times all around and great training, but I have not touched these roads since 2003.  This weekend changed that. My wife and I traveled  to our Bloomington condo (a.k.a my sister’s apartment while she is on spring break) to spend a weekend reliving our college days. While she shopped I did my training ride around Bloomington via some routes I rode 10 years ago.

And I will say, I remember the hills being a bit smaller. Of course, last time I was on these roads I was riding a Giant road bike (not my mountain bike with cross tires!), weighed 30 pounds less, and was 10 years younger. Ah well. The ride was still a great time and I was able to conquer an old nemesis, the Boultinghouse Road hill.

The hill actually bends to the left at the top, thereby extending the torture a bit more.

It is not the longest hill in the area, but it is steep and it stymied me more than once in college. Looking up at it from the bottom was still intimidating.  While I was slow, I did knock it down.

 

One surprise on the ride was the status of Griffey Lake, a small reservoir north of Bloomington that once provided water for the city. Now it is a park area surrounded by a few nice hills. However, I had heard the reservoir was drained for repairs to the dam, but seeing it empty was still a surprise. I took a side trip up a steep climb to an overlook by the dam itself:

Kind of eerie looking. (apologies for the crappy photo stitching job)

Overall it was a nice, tough ride. The hills hit me hard, but it was a perfect lead up to the BR.

Lastly, I hope the Sub 9 Death March went well for all participants. The weather seemed perfect although I’m betting Combs Road was a bit wet, and therefore, that much more fun!

Initial Thoughts On My First Carbon Component.

This past weekend I installed my White Brothers Rock Solid carbon fork. My plan is to use this for training purposes in the coming weeks as I spend time on pavement and bikeways, as well as at the Berry Roubaix on March 23, and the Gravel Grovel in November. Following the BR I plan to try it out on some single-track to see whether I could/should use it at any XC race later in the season.

Anyway, the fork itself is quite lovely. Maybe not as sleek as a Niner carbon fork or others out there, but still, it looks fast. Topped off with nice graphics plus the carbon weave, which is very cool looking (understanding this is my first carbon component so it doesn’t take much to impress me). And it is light! Stated weight was 760 gram which I thought was sounding a bit too good to be true. I found a online review which weighed the fork in at 925 grams for the 465 mm version which sounded more accurate. Note, this was before I had the steerer cut down to 8 ¼ and installed the crown race. Installation was no problem, although the steer was a bit longer than the one on my Reba, so an extra spacer was needed. Component

The new fork in all its glory. In my kitchen. With my left foot.

Just lifting the bike I could a weight difference, even though the Reba isn’t exactly heavy. I rode out of the driveway and immediately noticed the front end seemed quicker and more responsive.  My ride Sunday ride took me to good ol’ Crown Hill. On the way I put the fork through various S- turns, jumped a few pot holes, and did some out of the saddle sprints. The fork was especially noticeable on the sprints. When I’m out of the saddle I lay into my bar ends and push the bike hard. I was used to the cush from the Reba, including the slight squish when locked out. However, with the rigid, the front end was solid (almost rock solid…) and fast. It felt great.

 

My planned ride was to hit as many hills as possible (another post is coming about my GPS antics on this ride). The fork felt great on the climbs. While no single-track was in sight, I did take a disused road (by disused I mean no maintenance or upkeep for at least 25 years) through an older part of the cemetery. This road was nothing but crushed pavement and gravel, large potholes, and general nastiness. As expected, the White Brothers was not as smooth as a ride as a suspension fork, but it wasn’t as bad as a expected. Much better than the steel rigid fork I initially had on my Monocog last year. However, it wasn’t uncomfortable and provided good control. There is potential here for single track usage I think…

Overall I am very happy with the fork thus far, although the final verdict will be coming following the BR.  Interestingly, I was picking up an almost harmonic sound throughout my ride when I was riding at higher speeds (20 mph) or into the wind. It sounded like someone was blowing over the top of an old glass bottle. It seemed to be coming from the fork, but I wasn’t sure. By the end of the ride I was used to the sound and forgot to inspect the fork further. I suspect there is a weeping hole or something similar at the base of the legs but I forgot to check after the ride. Once the Snow Storm of The Century, and all of its 2 inches of snow ends outside I’ll do a more in-depth investigation.