Looking Ahead To 2016

As 2015 slowly whimpers to an end, I'm once again in a retrospective mood. Let's take a quick look back at the high, lows, and meh's of 2015.

Highs!

The year started off well with a one spot off the podium performance at the Sub 9 Death March. Considering the huge mechanical Aaron and I had right at the beginning in the form of Aaron's tire blowing off the rim, we managed a solid rally and likely would have been 2nd or 3rd if Aaron's tire had not been such a jerk. 

Things continued going well at the Barry Roubaix with a solid 5th place podium finish. Too bad it appears I will be missing this year's iteration. Have to aim for 2017.

In terms of pure mountain biking, I teamed up again with Aaron for the Tr-State 6 Hour Series at Versailles State Park. Not only did we manage a second place in the two man team competition, but the high drama of an extremely close race was very thrilling. Looking forward to doing more of these races next year!

Cyclocross went very well this year. Consistent top ten finishes in my Cat 4 races, which improved into several top 5 finishes as the season closed out gives me hope for next year when I can upgrade to Cat 3 and never see myself get within the top 40 again. And yes, I will continue to ride my mountain bike. Not giving in to peer pressure now.

Lows!

The Gravel Grovel. Nothing more needs to be said.

The Mustcatatuck DINO XC race has turned into my white whale. In 2014 I crashed badly, sheered my saddle off of my seat post and my body hit a tree. First ever DNF in a DINO race. This year, I was bonked before the race was even 10 seconds old and had nothing in the tank and struggled throughout. Breaking a chain on the last lap and running the last 2 miles in to the finish seemed like a fitting end to altogether shitty race.

Meh!

The DINO season as a whole was one big Meh. Cat 2 Open wave was a eye opener, as I expected it would be. I failed to podium for the first time in a DINO season (I'm not counting the 2nd place in the STXC race) and was never able to break into the top half of the wave, always lingering in mid- to back half of the field. I allowed muddy conditions to stymie my best chance of a podium at Potato Creek, and then my own stupid navigation error robbed me of a strong finish at Ferdinand. May not have been a podium, but it would have likely been a 4th place finish. I already mentioned the debacle at Muscatatuck. Certain issues have to be addressed prior to the next DINO season.

Which leads me to.....

THE PLAN FOR 2016!

2015 fell short in many areas. In terms of training, I tried a plan with more steady, longer miles and did little to no interval work. Part of this was a have fun while out riding and the fitness will come with the miles kind of attitude. While I lost weight doing the miles, and felt good generally endurance wise, I did not have the extra spark of intensity needed for a DINO race.

So, the plan for this year is to incorporate more interval/intensity training in addition to the normal base and endurance work. I'm taking most of December off (still riding to work, doing for fun rides) but come January 1, I will set into my plan for 2016. Nothing spectacular at first....standard base miles, still some cross training, as well as some high intensity work. If we ever get snow I'm hoping my base miles will be done on the fatbike. If not....may stick to the road and standard mountain bike. 

What I think will be different are the workouts after the weather gets nicer. When riding inside on the spin bike, I was forced to do high intensity/interval workouts by doing various Sufferfest workouts. I would also simulate hill repeats on the bike when I was watching non-Sufferfest content, such as recorded bike races, etc.

In 2015, once I got outside, I didn't really continue the intensity. I settled into doing my morning 18-20 mile loop before work, but those were fairly mellow rides. Further, I did very little hill work. A staple of my training in past years, I think I only had two or three days when I went out to specifically work on charging up hills.

For 2016, my morning rides around the city will likely continue, although I will identify certain areas for interval work, in addition to selecting days for hill work. Weekends will remain reserved for longer rides on the road and trail.

I would also like to participate in some CIBA group rides. There are several of these rides which start near my home from early spring on forward. While known for at times being dangerous (running signs etc.) these rides also have good training potential and it is always good to ride with people who are faster than you.

So....for training purposes, When January begins I will begin to work on maintaining a good base for cycling. I will also toss in some strength work (twice a week) and running, along with some swimming. The cross training will continue into February, at which point I will begin to increase intensity, particularly hill repeats in anticipation of the Death March on March 14.

Another important component in my plan of attack 2016 is my bike. I have been riding a Orbea Alma Hydro 29er for the past two seasons. This past year I joined Matthews Racing, which has a grass roots discount program which applies to Specialized bikes, including their Epic line (not S-Works). My plan is to order a new Specialized Epic (specifically an Epic Elite Carbon....hence the For Sale post from a few weeks ago) with the team order in early spring. I'm hoping for a push of speed due to the carbon frame, as well as some assistance on descents (traditionally my greatest weakness) from the full suspension.

In terms of races, I will try to focus on the DINO series again, as well as at least two of the Tri-State 6 hour races. There is movement afoot to set up a mid week short track race series. If that happens, I will definitely be there as well. Limiting factors right now are the two trials in April and May. These have the potential of really disrupting the training regimen, while also forcing me to miss the Barry Roubaix, and possibly missing the first DINO race at Winona and a race in northern Michigan called the Arcadia Grit and Gravel that I had hoped to race. I'm also looking into a possible race in northern Michigan in October called the Peak 2 Peak. We'll see how things in 2016 shake out. 

Gravel Grovel Race Report 2015: Gotta Tear The Band Aid Off Sometime

I described last year's Gravel Grovel as the hardest one I had raced up to that time. My 2014 self had no idea what was in store for this year's version and in all honesty, I had to force myself to write this post.

So to get the bad news out there at the beginning, I DNF'ed. Not the way I wanted this race to go, especially after the good result from last year, but it did. And here is how it went down.

As you can tell from the prior, pre-GG weather posts, there had been a lot of rain leading up to race. It rained all day Friday and all morning Saturday. I arrived at the venue about 40 minutes before race time and found a much smaller crowd than in past years. I had been watching the registration numbers leading up to race day and numbers were down. Registration closed with 208 participants. signed up for the 60 mile race. Of that, 120 riders finished, although no listing of DNF's was provided  but there appeared to be quite a few no show's due to the adverse weather conditions. Last year, 246 started while 190 finished.

The rain had dissipated and actually stopped at the start of the race. I had bought a new Endura rain jacket for the ride and also was wearing by Lake 303 boots. Wind proof and water proof, I also used a foot warmer just to ensure my feet stayed warm. I also had a spare set of gloves in my jersey pocket.

The start was the standard fast spin along broken pavement before the left turn onto the gravel. I moved myself forward to a position near the front and made sure to pace off of some other fast mountain bikers.  Once on gravel the pack I was in broke away from  the rest of the field and kept a good pace. The paved climb up Hunters Creek Road fractured the group a bit although it reformed at the top of the hill.

The conditions were wet with lots of muddy spray from the other riders. Wish more people used fenders in conditions like these.  Anyway, the pack rocketed down Tower Ridge Road, and I began to drop back a bit, because I was being a little cautious on the slick descent. I wasn't too worried. Still lots of off road sections and climbing ahead and I had gone out of the gate faster than what may have been good.

After the descent the course breaks off and takes a side road past Robertson Cemetery. This road is dicey. It is low and close to a creek and can be underwater after heavy rain (Like the Death March earlier this year). It wasn't underwater, but it did have tons of huge puddles and numerous pot holes. This slowed me down and helped me lose the lead pack. Just after getting onto Combs road I was caught by a group of four riders, including a few mountain bikes. I stuck with them heading into Combs, but things started going downhill. I was expecting it to be underwater, and from the get go, it was.

Water was flowing down the trail and I took some less than favorable lines through deep water and mud, while also passing multiple riders on cross bikes who had stopped for flat tires and other mechanicals. So far, my boots were keeping the water from the course at bay, I even recall thinking how warm and comfortable my feet were as we entered Combs Road. Famous last words...or thoughts. Or whatever.

Just before the stair step climb to the top of Combs was a large water crossing  which was so deep that as I pedaled through it, my boots were actually underwater. No the Lake 303's do very well in most circumstances.  They keep the cold and rain out, and handle splashes from puddles. But when fully submerged, even the Lakes say uncle. As I exited the crossing I could feel water seeping in from the tops of my boots. Feet were still warm but the water was there.,,

I continued on with the same group as we started the steepest part of the climb. I was surprised that the shitty trail to the top was actually still solid. Some slick spots, but mostly doable. Around halfway  up the climb the trail is split by a large washout trench, the result of heavy rains running down the hillside. The trail runs to the right of this 1 1/2 to 2 foot deep trench. As it turns out, I ended up in this ditch,

I was still riding up the climb when I hit a slightly off camber section of the trial which was slick with mud. My rear tire gave way and slid and I tried to clip out to stop my fall. Unfortunately, I was falling to the left....where the washout was. So clipping out was not going to help. And down I went. Hard.

For a slow speed up hill crash, I hit really hard and ended up with my head resting on the other side of the trench, most of my body in the washout, and the bike partially on the trail.

After figuring out nothing was broken, I started to run up the hill and remounted on one of the 'steps' on the climb and continued to the top and the descent from Combs. Which was just as wet and muddy as the first portion. Following Combs was last year's new section which followed the closed Blue Creek Road west of Elkinsville for a few miles. It was one of those lulls where you take stock of your status, and I realized that my left leg was hurting. As was my shoulder. My left side took the brunt of the fall into the rut on Combs. While the adrenaline of the moment had masked the pain initially, things were starting to come to the forefront.

 Included in Blue Creek Road was a steep climb which I was able to climb fairly well although the leg pain was progressively getting worse. The following old road bed/off road section was alternatively kind of dry or water covered. At one point my front wheel sank into what I had thought was a solid grassy patch but was instead thick mud. I ground to a halt and when I dismounted to get out of the mud pit, my boots sank almost to the their tops in the mud. Ugh. The last few hundred feet of Blue Creek Road was through a creek. Last year, this creek was mostly dry. During pre-riding, it was completely dry. On this day...it was full of water. My bottom bracket was fully submerged, and with each pedal stroke, my boots were completely under water. This did not help the cold feet situation, 

My moral was starting to suffer. Physically, I was hurting, and coming into the Nebo Ridge Trail head, my bike's chain was making an awful racket. I was hoping it could last until the SAG stop at the halfway point, but just as I came into the Nebo Trail parking lot, there was sickening grinding sound and my drive train locked up. I dismounted and found that my chain had some how doubled back over itself three times and was jammed into my front derailleur. A few minutes of cursing and tinkering revealed that several links were locked. Almost like they had been welded together, they were no longer moving. I had a small bottle of Pro Gold on me, so I lubed the bad links and a few minutes later was able to back the chain out of the derailleur and get things moving.

During this stop, I realized that my part in the competitive race was done.  My leg was starting to swell and was hurting badly anytime the road moved upwards. Plus, the mechanical was concerning and not like to be the last, and the cold had already taken care of my feet, and was leaching into my hands and the rest of my body. I could still finish, but last year's result would not be repeated. 

I pressed forward, hoping to at least finish and things went fairly well on Nebo, other than the pain in the leg, and the lesser pain in the shoulder. I kept up a steady pace and didn't crash on all the slickness. I was passed by a few other mountain bikes which ticked me off, but I wasn't in shape to chase. About halfway through Nebo, it began to rain. Nothing heavy, but steady. And while my jacket kept the rain out, the cold water on the outside of the jacket did a good job of finishing off the cold takeover of my body.

I exited Nebo and hit Barry Ride Road. I slowed briefly to take a gel, although I figured it was too late, and ran into Michael, a regular in the DINO Cat 2 ranks. He too seemed cold, but was doing better than I. He paused to eat, and while it would have been nice to ride with him, a that point I didn't want to stop until the SAG. 

But, as I rode down Berry Ridge, I began to take stock. My hands were blocks of ice (despite a glove change), as were my feet and lower legs. My boots still had water sloshing around. The cold had spread everywhere and I was beginning to shiver, even while pedaling at a steady speed. 

I called up the map of the area in my mind, and I knew I had a decision to make. Just before Houston Indiana, there is a fork in the road. Going straight, I will head towards the largest climbs of the day, namely Mount Baldy and the Buffalo Pike climb. Could I realistically finish the race as I was sitting right then? I was doubtful. Alternatively, if I turned right onto W. County Road 1000, I would end my race and cut off about 20 miles of course as I headed back past the Maumee intersection and up Tower Ridge and back to the start/finish. 

These options kept playing around in my head as I knew the miles were ticking down. In looking at the pro's and con's of both courses, one thought hit me. Was continuing on the smart thing? Was pushing on for a possibly epic, yet very low ranked and potentially health adverse finish, smart? Or was taking the right turn and getting my damaged self home asap the smart thing to do? 

I turned right and headed home. 

I was afraid I would look back on this and think, "You could have finished." But I haven't at all. I'm happy with my choice. Yes, many others, including some riders who I know are not as strong as I, finished that day. 

But sometimes you have bad days on the bike, days when things do not go as planned, and you are far from being 100%.  That is part of bike racing, and during these times, you have to be able to listen to your body, make smart decisions, and know when to fold'em. So I folded, got warm, recuperated, and am very much at peace with my decision to retreat from the field. There will be next year. 

More Cross Season Catch Up Because I Am A Negligent Blogger

Another cross catch up. I finished off the gray Goat Indy Cross season earlier this month and the final three races were all fun and ended up to be decent results. So, lets get into the gory details.

(Note: all photos courtesy of Chris Jones....he takes some fantastic photos. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/cjonesphoto/?fref=ts) 

Indy Cross #3: Traders Point 

Traders Point was a standby during the inaugural season of the Indy Cross last year. This year, only one race was held there and it turned out to be an interesting day. Rain was threatening most of the morning and by the afternoon, bursts of heavy showers had broken out. Light rain was falling at the race site, although with the weeks of completely dry weather preceding it, there seemed to be little impact, aside from wet grass. I scoped out the course in several spots, and yeah, the grass was wet, but no sloppy gross mud. I made this comment to a woman next to me, and she begged to differ, saying that the racers were tearing up tons of mud on the back side of the course.

An inspection of the passing bikes didn't quite bear this out. Grass yes. Some dirt, yes. Full on mud...no.

I had brought my cross bike with mud tires just in case but in the end, I decided to stick with the mountain bike. I got a first row call up and promptly managed to miss my clip in. Not getting off to a great start. I settled into a position outside the top ten and started to do my normal work my way up the field. I was doing alright on the grass, although it was a bit slick.  I did notice that I was having trouble moving up in the field.

Bryan D., a DINO racer and a frequent cross adversary, was doing very well and was within the top 5. I kept trying to will some additional power to work my way up to him, but it just wasn't there, and at every sighting, he was a bit farther up. To add insult to what was apparently not my day to race, managed to crash on section of gravel road. The course merely crossed it, but I turned too much and my rear wheel losty traction and down I went. For once, no blood, but a Purdue rider did get past me. In the end, I sputtered in for 9th place. Still top ten, and I was glad for it. And kudos to Bryan D. who came in with a fantastic race and a podium finish at 3rd.

In review, I was trying to figure out why I wasn't enjoying the acceleration I had in the past. I finally pinned it on a 5K I had run the Thursday night before (race was Saturday). I only do one 5K a year, without training, and this time it fell two days before a cross race. All day Friday my legs were stiff and hurting, and while things were somewhat improved on Saturday, I think the recovery was still in progress, and the legs couldn't answer the call at the cross race.

Indy Cross # 4: Paul Ruster II (Halloween Race)

The fourth IndyCross race returned to Paul Ruster Park this time for a Halloween race. The Cat 4/5 field was smaller than usual, as were all the fields, likely due to the Cincy 3 UCI races being held that same weekend. Moral of the story...don't schedule a local race on the same weekend as one of the largest cyclocross races in the country, which also happens to be just over an hour away.

Being Halloween, I tried to get the spirit my zip tying a parrot hat to my helmet. While it was mistaken for a rooster by about half the spectators but it was well received. And it stayed put the entire race. 

And the race? Geez, I can't seem to recall the details. It was a good race and fun although the trail was not as technical as before. The trail sections from the first race were left out, although there were still multiple tough climbs up the sledding hill. 

I do recall launching a fairly successful attack the next to last lap. I was in a group with a World Bicycle Relief and Scholars Inn Bakehouse rider. The three of us had been maintaining a good pace for a few laps, but I could also count, and were were just outside of the top 5. Just after one of the descents from the hill was a straightaway which led into a series of twistys before the barriers and another climb up the hill. I was last rider in our little group and jumped while on the straight away and immediately got a gap. The gap continued to grow as we came into the last lap and I maintained it until the end for 5th place. , which 

Indy Cross # 5: Marion County Fairgrounds (season finale)

The Indy Cross finale was at the Marion County Fair grounds. I had only ever been here once (The county fair is kind of overshadowed by the State Fair) and that was back in college when I was dating a girl who was showing cattle at the fair.

My recollection was a mostly flat area with not much variety terrain wise. Kind of an odd location for a cross race, but I know venues can be hard to come by as more people become upset with the damaged grass so often associated with cross.

Upon arriving, I was pleasantly surprised. The terrain was varied than I expected, with some various small rises and a portion on a old bmx course on thr property. There was one step climb on the northern portion of the course which climbed a long man made ridge which divided the fairgrounds from the adjacent interstate. Overall, a very urban cross course. I had brought my cross bike (in addition to my mountain bike) thinking this would be a flat course. After a quick pre-ride, I knew the mountain bike would be in.

I enjoyed what has become the standard front row call up and took my place on the far left side of the grid, anticipating the wide right turn which was at the end of the start stretch. At the gun I promptly missed my clip in. Kind of a trend these past few races, and was immediately chasing as a good chunk of riders got ahead of me.

I was somewhere around the top 15 and was in the thick of things for the first lap. As things began to get strung out, I was able to make some forward progress and start picking off riders here and there. Aaron had passed me early in the race, and I caught up to him and managed to get by him and a few others as I zeroed in on the top 5.

I came up on a Veloworks Urban Cyclery rider but had a hard time getting around him. Coming into the barriers, which were on an uphill, I was on his wheel and popped out to his left. As I came up next to him to prepare to dismount I told him I was on his left side. As we dismounted, he all of the sudden angled directly toward me and forced me into the tape. My dismount was ugly and I actually came to a complete stop before the first barrier.

I few choice words later I was running of the hill after the Velo guy. I remounted and took of, admittedly slightly pissed. Maybe it was an accident...skewing off your line while dismounting certainly happens. Or, maybe he was doing his best to hold me at bay for a while longer. Whatever the reason, I was in full on chase mode as we rode down a straight away before a twisty section before the finish. Velo held me off until the straight away after the finish where I hit the case and roared past him. Off to the next one......

A rough count made it appear that I was in 5th. I spotted 4th place, Nick A, a ways ahead of me and tried to close the gap. Nick is a strong rider and had been mixing it up with the top 3 most of the race, but it seemed like he might have burned all his matches. I was steadily gaining on him and figured I would make the catch within a lap. As I went through the barriers and headed into the straightaway which lead into the final twisty section  before the finish I did a double take. The leaders had just crossed the finish and had sat up. And were shaking hands.

Shit. This was the last lap. I usually listen for the bell, but there had not been one this race. Just the electronic lap counter, which I had not looked on that lap. I gritted my teeth and pushed hard in the twisty section. I closed the gap more, but not enough to catch Nick and ended up in 5th.

Overall, it was a great race and my second top 5 (hooray for upgrade points). A large field with lots of strong riders and I was able to make steady movement up the field. Based on the strength of the top few positions, I don't think misstep at the start would have had any impact. I'll console myself by remembering that the top three were aged 25, 20 and 18....so my racing age 35 self was up against some kids. Hard to compete against that. 

This race was also the finale for the IndyCross series. the best four out of five races went towards the overall placing. Going into this race, I was in second behind Nick A., although he had about 20 points on me.

Unfortunately, several of the other top riders had skipped a race, so while I had four races, the others only had three so would be well down in the rankings. Since a few of these riders beat me during this race, they jumped ahead of me and I ended up in 4th place for the series.

Nice result and I get to stick around the Cat 4 races for a bit longer. Thanks to IndyCross for a great local series. Looking forward to the racing next year!

Things For Sale

Time to clean out the garage and also raise some money for a new race bike. Pick up of the following items is local and will be done outside the Butler University Police Station located at the intersection of Sunset and Hampton Streets in Indy. For bike/frame sizing comparison, I'm a touch under 6'2. Without further adieu....

NEW ITEMS POSTED! If the item is still listed, it is still for sale.

Three Rear Derailleurs

Shimano SLX M662 9 speed rear derailleur - $35

Purchased new and used on a monster cross bike for a few races before switching to another bike. Light cosmetic wear but still in very good shape. (top left in photo)

Shimano SLX M663 10 speed rear derailleur -$50

10 speed version of the above. Purchased from a friend who had taken it off of a new bike after a test ride. Like new condition.

Shimano Deore 10 speed rear derailleur -$40

New 10 speed derailleur. Never used, but took out the instructions when for reference when installing the SLX pictured above. 

 Used Shimano SPD Mountain Bike Shoes. No Cleats -$40

Size 49 SPD shoes with original box. Actually in very good shape, save a few scuffs and marks from everyday use. Velcro straps work well as does the ratchet thingy. Got a new pair for Christmas a few years ago and just liked the colors of those better so these became back ups. Just never needed them again,

Access XCL 29er Frame, Size L, 19 inch: $75

This frame is the house brand for Performance Bike and was core of  one of the best bikes I ever rode. Purchased in 2012, and used until 2014, I raced cross on this, the DINO series, and a few Gravel Grovels, in addition to some commutes and numerous trail rides. Frame has some marks and scuffs from use, but still has plenty of life. Crankset is not included,

Kenda Kross Supreme Tire - $15

One brand new cyclocross tire, sized 35 x 700. Bought several of these back when I first tried cross but never mounted this one. Good tires, especially is drier conditions. I also used them on my mountain bike a few times at Town Run and they did well. Also good for a heavy duty commute tire. $15

Rock Shox Tora 29er Fork: $120

One of the last of the Tora line before Rock Shox discontinued them, This is a coil fork with 100 mm of travel. Steerer is at 8 inches. Solid fork which was used for a short time on the single speed frame listed farther up. I then ran across a deal on a almost new Reba and snapped that up and just don't need this anymore,