End of Year Ramblings

The off season has been in full force, with plenty of laying on the couch and tons of food at various holiday parties and dinners. There has been some riding, although the hours are much reduced. But that was the point. Take some time off, and plan for next year.

The schedule for next year is still in doubt. The DINO series released a tentative schedule a month ago on Facebook, but there has been no final confirmation. A new series last year was the Tri-State 6 Hour race series, a series of four 6 Hour races at locations in Kenuckey, Ohio, and Indiana. I’m aiming to do the Indiana race at Versailles, and possibly a race at Hueston Woods State Park in Ohio. Also, I’m hoping to catch a race with the Kentucky Point Series and the Northern Indiana Mountain Bike Association (NIMBA) Race Series.  Neither has released dates so 2014 is a blank canvas which will be detailed in a future post.

In the meantime, enjoy a photo compilation of December riding. First up is a final pic from the finale of cyclocross season:

And where I have been spending a good chunk of riding time lately.

Sufferfest videos help with the tedium.

And then a bit of single speeding at Brown County on the day after Christmas:

Some hiking required.

And a bit of detail that is often missed when riding. This is from the creek crossing on Green Valley.

And ending the month with a pavement ride around Indy, complete with a flat tire in the first five miles, followed by a second, more severe flat two miles later:

This blew the tire off the rim at 20 mph. No more CO2, but a passerby had a small pump which let allowed me to get to one of the new repair stations popping up around town for a more final repair.

Happy New Year!

Cyclocross Retrospective

 

I’ve had a few days to think about and digest the recently concluded cyclcocross season. Pretty much an average, and unspectacular season, although lessons were learned, and I'd like to think a foundation is in place for next year.  

My plan had been to treat cross season preparation as I had with mountain. I put together a training plan for September and most of October and tried to stick to it. Unfortunately, some work duties hindered this prep although not to a great degree.

In terms of my endurance, I think I was spot on. I maintained the mountain bike fitness and worked on the constant redline efforts with short track races at Town Run and cross practices at the velodrome.

I think my major limitation was in the general skills area, namely, tight cornering, especially in muddy conditions. I had good speed and endurance, but other riders both gapped, and gained, on me in corners. The most obvious location for this was the Bradford Woods race which had two sections of repeated in and out turns, one in bound, and another as you headed towards the finish line:  

 

Even with the dry conditions at this race I was very slow in these sections and it cost me in that race, and in others.

So, the plan for next year is to put more emphasis on maintaining speed through such sections as well as technical skills in general. Anyway, here are the results for this year in my Cat 4 division: .

IndyCycloplex: DNF (Terribly frustrating result considering that I trained on this course for several weeks preceding the race. And apologies to my wife who had to deal with my grumpiness on the way home.)

Bradford Woods:  7th

Richmond: 6th

Camp Goldman: 10th

Trader’s Point: 4th (just short of the podium...)

I did enjoy cross more this year than last. It seemed 2012 it was a novelty, just to see what it was like. This year, it was more fun and I was more enthused about the races. The end of the season has left me wanting to train more for next year and…..looking forward to the next cross season. Definitely didn’t say that last year.

What races I’ll do will be a question. At the ICX finale last week the race director announced that he was “retiring” from running races. Not sure how that will impact the ICX series, but I had heard rumors over the summer that Planet Adventure was not going to run any cycling races next year. The ICX seemed to have some attendance issues, but I think this was due to starting the season in Fort Wayne, away from the more populous Indy metropolitan area, and less promotion of races (in the lead up to the finale race on December 7, the ICX Facebook page had not had any updates since November 21) So, we’ll see what happens. If there is no ICX series net year I will dive into the OVCX, although I will likely stick to the races in Indiana or maybe Cincy.

And no, I will not be buying a cross bike anytime soon. The mountain bike is working just fine! (except I heard that the OVCX does not give awards for mountain bike podium finishes...not that I'm planning on winning any podiums a year from now, but that would kinda suck)

 

Trader's Point ICX Race Report

 

So the snow came as predicated, as did bitterly cold temperatures. But come hell or high water, or snow, cross races go on.  Thus, Saturday afternoon I was lining up for the finale of the Indiana Cyclocross Series at Traders Point in Zionsville.

Apparently the early races had a layer of snow to ride on. By the time the Cat 4 race rolled around the course was muddy, while places in the shade were icy, and the major run up was one long mud run. But, we still had sub 20 degree temperatures. Still, conditions weren't as bad as other cross race reports I have read recently.

Despite the temperatures, and my well documented lack of skill in mud (Remember this? And this?), I had my best cross finish of the year.

The course was a nice mixture of hills, straights, the referenced run up and twisty sections. The start (and also the final straight away) was up a gravel road uphill which had a slick layer of ice which made the start interesting. I slipped and slid through the chaotic first lap well enough (see the new masthead above for a pic of said chaos). The run up was nasty….partially frozen, slick mud leading to a left turn into a off camber muddy straight section, followed by a tight right turn up a hill with a hairpin turn heading back down the hill:

The final right turn and hairpin at the end of the run up. What is not pictured is
another steep muddy hill to the right. Oh, and I'm the one in the red arm warmers.

I made good use of the run up and got a few passes and also pushed hard on the hills. Surpisingly, I did not join the slew of riders sliding out in the mud and managed to stay upright. Hey, I was not crashing and burning....so things were looking good...maybe? For those keeping score here is the lap chart with convenient and self centered highlighting:

 

I started a minor duel (at least in my mind) with an I-Hop rider (#80) during the second and third laps. I caught him on a few hills only to have him get past me on tight twisty sections.

Keeping in contact with #80...in green with yellow helmet.

We kind of yo-yo'ed back and forth, but I kept him within a manageable distance. Or mostly manageable.

Chasing (me with red arm warmers) #80 up the hill to the start/finish line...still a manageable distance.

On the run up section I got a gap  during lap 2, only to have him come charging back and pass me before the finish.  In the third lap I finally got ahead of him and was able to gap him for good on the run up.

 

However, the final two laps would be a struggle. Up to this time, the bike had been running great. While others were stopping to chip away at frozen mud in their drvietrains, mine was humming right along with no shifting problems.  But not long into Lap 4, I lost the ability to clip into my pedals. The combined mud/ice/snow from the run up had frozen solid into my SPDs on  both pedals. Essentially they were reduced to ice covered flat pedals. Only when your pedals are transformed into muddy ice cubes do you realize how second nature clipping in has become and how you rely upon the security and control which comes from being locked onto your bike.

On an short uphill section I thought I had managed to grind in my cleats enough ton get some  and stood to get out of the saddle only to fall forward and make contact with the tube. A few minutes of riding cross eyed later I figured I would do my best to stay in the saddle.

A quick aside, the course had an interesting spectator section where it split two ways and went around a small "island" before rejoining into one route. Great place for watching the race and thanks to my mom and sister who spectated and yelled their heads off for me. Also, the Shamrock Cycles tent contributed to a fluid course in this section since each lap they had moved the route markers around making a "fast" and "slow" line. Kept you on your toes for sure.

Anyway, back to the dramatic race action...

I managed to climb as high as 6^th place overall at the conclusion of the 4^th lap, but was riding on borrowed time with my pedal issue. After passing a few riders and allowing some others to catch up I had a train of about 5 riders hot on my wheel as lap 4 ended. I pushed hard up the gravel climb to the finish and the final lap and stretched out the train as much as I could before the bell lap. 

Stretching out the train on the uphill to start the last lap.

This effort helped gap some of the riders, although, one rider, #71, had been making steady progress in reeling me in, and finally made his move on the last lap. I tried to respond, but just couldn’t regain contact.

I hate to blame the pedals, but that is what I am going to do. The whole time #71 was catching me and passing me, I was struggling to keep my feet square on the pedals. My control and speed suffered as a result, and #71 got past me. Of course, #71 was the only rider, according to the lap chart above, whose fastest lap was lap 5, the same lap where he happened to have me in his sights.  Still, the result was still pretty decent. 4^th in the age group and 7^th overall while I finished in 7th for the Cat 4 series.

Also, thanks to my sister Jennifer who took some great shots (all those above) throughout the race. She appeared at various places along the course and did a nice job documenting my day. And, as I mentioned thanks to both my sister and my mom for cheering and for noting at the conclusion of the race that I had done so much better than last year!

Thanks for the cheers, Mom!

Going back to the mud for a minute, the conditions were nasty, but I had no crashes, and was able to recover from my slides outs. , either I’m improving skill wise, or the use of dedicated mud tires helped:

 

I’d like to think it was both, although I could tell the Mud Wrestlers were cutting through the muck and gripping extremely well. The rear tire did slide out a few times but never enough to put me to the ground and was easily recoverable. Chalk this up on the good purchase column.

So, there you have it. Racing season 2013 is over.  I'll do a short sum up post for cross season later. For now, it is time for some recreational riding with no plan other than to have fun and get some exercise. There might be some potential team news down the line, and I'm figuring out my schedule for 2014 as well, although I'll save all that for another post.  Till then, stay warm.

 

 

The Potential of Snowfall Could Complicate Things

So the forecast here this weekend is going to be interesting. Normally I wouldn’t dedicate a post to snowfall, but the cycling related fact is that I have the finale of the Indiana Cyclocross Cup series on Saturday. I can handle riding through snow. But 5 to 9 inches of snow? Whole new ball game. But all hope is not lost. I’m in the last race of the day. I’m counting on all the earlier waves to beat down a decent path for the elite Cat 4 riders.

Hmm…..up to a foot around Bloomington and Columbus? Guess what lies right in between those to fine cities? Brown County State Park. My planned early Sunday singlespeed ride at the park could be jeopardy.  Or, it could be a perfect time to give my recently commandeered snow shoes a try.

We’ll see what happens. As of now, no local stations have uttered the term “snowpocalypse” but that could change by day’s end.

Gravel Grovel 2013: Shaking Your Fillings Out Since 2009

As I type this (or when I started typing this) I am laying on my couch watching the Colts stumble along against the Tennessee Titans while nursing my aching legs.  Part of these aches can be attributed to the massive amount of yard work completed this morning while the weather was nice. The other, much more significant portion is directly related to the 5^th annual Gravel Grovel that was run on Saturday, complete with a brand new tag line (see above).

This was my third year riding and, like in past years, this is the longest race I do and the finale of my riding and racing season (I do have a cross race next weekend, but that pales in comparison to the GG).

Based on last year’s course, my plan was to aim for a sub 5 hour time, a goal which was missed by a mere 8 minutes last year due to a broken spoke on the home stretch. This year I had joined a group of local cyclist/DINO racers in a Facebook group called the “Sub 5 Hour Wolfpack,” the goal of which was to complete the course in under 5 hours.

All was good until the course changed, quite dramatically , a week before the race.  The traditional ride out to Story, Indiana was modified, eliminating the ride back through Combs Road. Combs Road is technically a county road, but it is restricted to non-motorized traffic.  Imagine a trail which starts out as something like a jeep trail and then morphs it singletrack…with a massive climb as well.

Now the course cut off onto the Nebo Ridge Trail, a mountain bike trail on Hoosier National Forest land, instead of following Combs back. Additionally, new 300+ and 250+ foot climbs were added, as well as two other sections of National Forest trail.

 

So the five hour goal was very much in doubt since I figured the new climbs and trail sections would add significant time.  But my expectations for this race are always tempered. The distance is more than I normally do for races, and it attracts the best racers in the region. Plus, with only two age groups for geared riders (Masters 40+ and Open) a good placing is difficult. But, this is more about a challenge. Riding 60 miles through some of the roughest terrain in Indiana in November is not a walk in the park.

So, without further ado, on with the main event.  But please excuse the lack of photos in this post. The official photos from the event have no been posted yet and I didn't have a chance to take any myself. Saturday dawned clear and cold, but the forecast was for highs in the mid to upper forties.  I was using the same mountain bike I use for the DINO series and cross races, with a White Brothers carbon fork and a 2.1 inch Maxxis Ignitor and Crossmark on the front and rear, respectfully. I had used cross tires last year and nearly been shaken to death on the gravel, so I was hoping for a softer ride.  The one standby missing from the bike were my trusty bar ends. While installing them the night before I found that one of the clamp bolts was stripped. No replacement was found and no local (North Vernon, Indiana) hardware stores were open. The bar ends would be of no use.

Anyway, I thought our departure time from my in-law’s home in North Vernon  Saturday morning was a little late, but my wife’s  awesome driving skills got us to the Midwestern Trail Ride Horseman's Camp 30 minutes before the start. Too bad the check in/registration line was really long. I skipped picking up my t-shirt and had to run out of the mess hall and back to my wife who was waiting in our car at the back of the camp to get my gear. I ended up lining up with two members of the “Wolfpack," Eric G. and Eric L. at the last minute with no warm up, just as the riders meeting was concluding.

The race started with the typical fast and chaotic “neutral” start which made a mostly smooth transition to gravel. The race went fairly well from there. I lost the other members of Wolfpack in the chaos, although I made contact with another member, Aaron Lifford.  We climbed the steep paved climb on Hunters Creek Road and then descended down to Combs Road. I was glad I had gone with the full sized mountain bike tires versus cross tires as I navigated the various mud pits, creek crossings, and other goodies that makes Combs what it is.

The steep climb up Combs was busy like always, with people stopping left and right.  Aaron was on my wheel and we both made it over the top, despite several riders stopping in the middle of the trail and push their bikes without moving off to the side to make way for riders still struggling ahead.

We bombed down the other side of Combs, and my terrible downhill skills were on full display as we descended towards Elkinsville.  I nearly bit it multiple times thanks to dangers hidden under leaves, but managed to keep it together and not hurt myself or anyone else.

Passing the Nebo Ridge Trailhead parking lot on the way to Story Aaron and I hooked onto a pace line of about 6 other riders. Using the power of the pace line we kept up a great speed and made short work of the long pavement/gravel stretch of road leading to the Story turnaround and time check.   The pace line formed back up as we were leaving Story and we pushed hard to the Nebo Ridge Trail section. The hunters hanging around in the trailhead parking lot did not seem amused to see dozens of riders charging into the woods.

Nebo was the same old rough Nebo as the last time I rode it, only covered in leaves. This made choosing lines a trick and left me wishing for my suspension fork when my choice turned out to be the wrong one. Although I was having a better time than the numerous cross bikes that were having mechanical issues along the way. We passed several racers, although a few others got by us as well.

We left Nebo Ridge after roughly four miles and jumped onto Berry Ridge Road, a mostly gravel road which descended into the metropolis of Houston, Indiana, population 10 (est). No rest for the weary as right outside of town, at mile 30, was the Mount Baldy climb, a new addition to this year’s race and the tallest climb of the day with about 375 feet of elevation gain in just over one mile. Aaron and I made good, steady progress, although I dropped to the granny gear for the first time. Several riders were caught including a single speed rider, who was riding very well, being out of the saddle and pushing hard most of the time he was in sight.

At the top of the climb was a SAG station. A brief stop for a  water refill, a Slim Jim, half of a banana and some chain oil and we were off to descend a paved road which paralleled the aforementioned climb.  As a side note, the single speed rider we passed earlier jumped back out in front of us, after thanking us for pacing him to the top. I didn’t see him again.

Following the descent from Baldy we turned onto Buffalo Pike Road, which included another steep climb of 260 feet. I did this climb voluntarily as part of the Sub 9 Death March two years ago and hated it. In fact, I ended up walking a good chunk of it back then and was determined to not do it again. The climb is steep and has a false top where the road takes a hard right and continues to climb. But, Death March ghosts (see what I did there?) were vanquished and we made it toe top in relatively good time.

Following the descent from the "summit" was an extended pavement section, which was not terribly fun. The wind picked up and the fat mountain bike tires weren’t in their element here. Plus there were several short punchy hills. Nothing too long, but just enough to kill your speed.  

Finally came the second trail section, Trail 21 which is part of the Hickory Ridge Trail Network.  The trail was mostly wide single-track but it was muddy, although it wasn’t as horsed out as I was expecting. However, the warmer temps were thawing the ground so there was much slipping and sliding. At the end of the trail around mile 40 I lost contact with Aaron. Further, I was hitting a very large wall at the end of the trail and  was fading fast. Once off the trail I seemed to lose all strength and just started to chug along in a daze.

I did run into a racer with McDonald’s cycling team who was trying to deal with a flat tire and called out to see if I had any air. I did so I stopped and tossed him one of my CO2 cartridges. As I continued on I began to feel the beginnings of some cramps and was still tired. I was coasting down all hills to recover and I was almost done with my second bottle of HEED and was about halfway done with my water bottle from the SAG at the top of Baldy.  I probably should have asked to trade the CO2 for some food. I had one gel shot left but was trying to push a little further before using that.

Just before turning onto Polk Patch Road around mile 44 I was passed by a rider from southern Indiana whom I recognized from the DINO series. He had raced in Cat 2 Open and was extremely fast and was tackling this race on a 26 inch bike mountain bike. A cross rider was also with him. All of the sudden having other riders around me and in front me gave me a jumpstart. I latched on to the two of them and decided to use my last gel shot. I eventually passed and gapped them and rode north to the east of the Maumee boy scout camp (located by the lake at the middle of the map above) and up a not so big climb.

This climb ended in a T intersection, but the course proceeded straight forward and dropped onto the final trail section, Trail 20, another part of the Hickory Ridge Trail System. This was much more mountain bikey as opposed to the last section and was very fun, although with the leaf cover it was hard to see where the trail was at times. I passed a few riders before coming out onto Tower Ridge road for the final long climb of the day.

About this time I did some math based on the remaining mileage (estimated since I had accidently paused my GPS earlier and it was off by 4-5 miles) and the time of day and realized I might be able to beat the 5 hour barrier. 

I launched myself into the Tower Ridge Road climb (more of a slow spin actually) and within a few minutes spotted the final SAG at the top of the climb. I was out of HEED, and was down to a third of a bottle of water.  I planned to top off on water, grab a snack and get out. Not that easy. No more water at the SAG. But they could offer nuts, granola bars, and peanut butter cookies. I grabbed a pack of two peanut butter cookies and started eating the first when the aforementioned Cat 2 DINO racer rolled up.

He and a friend immediately rolled out after grabbing food.  Knowing I ride better when I have carrot, I took off again for the final stretch south to the Hickory Church and then west to the finish, while still trying to eat a  peanut butter cookie.

Fun fact: Peanut butter cookies and limited water supply do not work well together. Actually any peanut butter based snack would have sucked in that situation. Anyway, I caught and passed the DINO racer, and caught up to his friend. I was feeling pretty good. Legs were back (sort of) I was nearing the home stretch, and I was catching other riders. Huzzah.

But, just before the Hickory Church (which did have a small rest station with water available), the DINO racer got a second wind and came roaring back along with his friend. I held on for a bit as the route turned onto McPike Branch Road (the light at the end of the tunnel for the course), but they were really gunning it and I dropped off and continued at my own pace alone. But, the good news was that I was on the home stretch and time was on my side. I rolled through the finish line with a time of 4:46 and 25th in the Open Men.

I immediately made a beeline for the mess hall and grabbed some Yats, my free t-shirt, and an excessive amount of free Hammer gel shots, but no joy on the raffle prizes.  Plus, no broken spokes despite the single track and the miles of bike rattling gravel.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the result, although I’m surprised I got in under the 5 hours. I figured the trail sections and added climbing would really eat up time but I think I was physically better prepared this year. Also , the bike performed flawlessly, and the choice to use mountain tires was a wise one.

In other random thoughts, singlespeed riders were killing it this year.  The venerable Gerry Pflug was racing and won the single speed race, although that was to be expected based on his race history.  Also, there was the strong rider we passed on Mount Baldy. I haven’t mentioned a rider from the Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse team (I think his name Stephen Brauchla based on the results) who was riding a Little 500 bike. I know this has been done in the past, but this was the first time I ran into such a rider. Aaron and I passed him on Combs Road, but at some point he repassed us and ended up finishing 20 minutes ahead of me and in the top 5 of the single speed class. Very impressive.

As for the event itself, the changes in the course were very fun and well marked. Hopefully the use of trails will continue in future races although certain staples, like the Combs Road section and descent down McPike Branch Road,  should still be included.  No real downsides, although sufficient water at the top of the Tower Ridge climb would have been advisable.  I ended up being ok in terms of water, but there were others who were hurting.

As I mentioned above, one more cross race for this year and then that’ll be it for 2013.  Forecast for the next few days includes some snow, so the race Saturday could be interesting.