Brown County State Park DINO Race Report

Another weekend, another cross country mountain bike race defined by wet and often slick conditions. This time at the Brown County State Park DINO race.

Setting the stage, we'd had a week of decent weather, although there was a significant threat of severe storms on Saturday. Although away at a wedding in northern Indiana, I monitored the weather and saw that the storms were bypassing the park for most of the day. At the end of the day a few strong storms did blow through, but word on the social medias was that the race was a go.

Early Sunday morning was gray and damp, and a constant mist fell on the drive to the park. Once there, I also found that the temperature seemed to have dropped since my 6 am wake up and dog walking. I was wandering around in shorts, a t-shirt and sandals (feet got soaking wet) while others were nice and warm in long pants and sleeves.

I got situated and went out for a pre-ride which included climbing the beast of a paved climb at the start of the course. I found the trails themselves to be in good shape. The tread was solid, and while there was some mud in corners, and in a few low places, overall it had withstood the rain very well.

So we lined up. A decent sized Open field of 16 riders, and what looked like a smaller than usual Cat 2 over all field. This changed as the time to start ticked down, and people came running from the parking area (in the end, the 40-49 age group had 35 riders....which is huge for these parts).

The start was predictably fast and two loose packs formed as we all collectively burned half of our matches on the opening paved climb. The front pack included a few guys I knew, Jeff Burnett, Brian Walsh (who decided to ride a geared bike this week), and Rob Shrum, who made a comment that he hadn't ridden much so far this year, but who destroyed me.

I got up past Aaron (who was being paced by Zach Nalley from Evansville in what looked like a repeat of the SWW race from a few years ago), and had Michael Scott from Gray Goat in there as well.

The second pack began to reel the first one in slowly but surely, and as we came to the single track, I was within throw my spare CO2 cartridge at them distance of Rob abd Brian, with Michael on my wheel, and a rider on what looked like a Vassago dropping back along the line of riders. I looked over at Michael and said that we should get in front of this guy before the trail. Michael responded with something along the lines of "Take it." So I took it, passed the guy, and dropped into the singletrack behind Rob.

Michael didn't know it, but he was about to regret being on my wheel. Why? See the reference above re: wet roots, rocks, and mud. Yeah.....the only strong point on this course for me were the climbs.
 

I'm sure I crashed on these roots....because there wasn't a root that I didn't crash on.
Photo: Beth Bragg

Anyway, back to the action. I kept Brian and Rob in sight, and almost caught them for a good chunk of North Tower Loop. However, as we started our descent down to the valley and the connection with Aynes, I began to lose time to them thanks to the slick everything, and my general suckness with descending. Michael was still behind me, and I know he is faster, and I'm sure he was not having a very good time, so I rode to the side to let him get around.

I started the Aynes Climb in great style by doing a partial crash on the finl creek crossing before the climb. Damp rocks plus muddy tires equals me not able to ride worth a damn. I didn't bite it all the way, but the bike ended up on the ground while I stood there looking rather lame. I remounted the bike and made decent time on the climb and got close to Rob and Brian, and also got intertwined with a few Cat 1 riders.

Problem one, the awesome Aynes climb ended....which led to a downhill, which led to Brian and Rob dropping me like.....I dunno, its hot? (Ugh....jokes no firing today) Anyway, the remainder of the Aynes loop was spent trying to hold off a Cat 1 rider who I passed while climbing but who now was nipping at my heels on the descent.

Once the course reconnected with the North Tower Trail I pushed hard on the climb and hooked back up with another Cat 1 just in time for the run into the feed zone.

Where I crashed while trying to toss one of my water bottles to the side of the trail.

Apparently riding one handed and hitting a slick off camber root does not work for me. Anyway, one sore knee later and I was off again. North Tower was fairly uneventful....just going back and forth with the same few Cat 1 riders....and getting passed by one freakishly fast 20-29 age group rider. I attacked the Aynes climb like an animal (turned out to be a PR time) and tried to put some time on chasers (I had spotted Aaron and Zach not too far behind me) and gain on others.

On the descent I was passed by the same Cat 1 riders, and found that Zach had broken away from Aaron and caught me. He got away on the remainder of Aynes, but I pushed hard on the climb up North Tower, got past the Cat 1 riders and was Zach's wheel as we start the one way trail back to the start. Zach was damn fast, especially on the downhills, and he began to get a gap, although the distance was manageable. But, I screwed that up by nearly losing control (I think I hit a rock or root) which caused me to go off the trail on the downslope. For a terrifying few seconds I was having a "this is the end" feeling, as I sped towards several trees. Somehow, I managed to drag the bike back on the trail, and despite a triumphant "Fuck Yeah!" (namely because I realized I wasn't about to get wrapped around a tree). But, Zach was gone and I rolled across the finish line alone.

Done with the laps and heading down towards the finish. And looking and all fast  too.
Photo: Corri Lewis

I ended up 14th out of 78 overall, which I was pleased with even though I was aiming for a top 10 finish, and 10 out of 16 in the Cat 2 Open wave. Not so excited by that one. I was hoping to be in the top 50%, especially considering the favorable course, but I just couldn't manage it.

So, there's Brown County DINO in a nutshell. Next up is a new DINO venue at Potato Creek State Park near South Bend. I rode there a few years ago and it is a fun course, although I would liken it a Town Run on a half dose of steroids. Some elevation but not much tech. The locals are going to have a field day.

Kicking Off The XC Mountain Bike Season

Geez....I'm way behind on updates. I'll blame that on a terribly fun and relaxing vacation last week.

Anyway.....the 2015 cross country campaign is off and running with two races on consecutive weekends. So dueling race reports it is.

Fort Duffield 

As noted in the last posting, I headed south to Kentucky and the Kentuckey Point Series to race at Fort Duffield in Westpoint, just outside the Louisville. The course had been described as "old school" and the most technical course in Kentucky. Rocks and log crossings

These warnings seemed ominous, especially since I'm not the most technically skilled rider (I got a 29er so I could roll over obstacles, not finesse my way over), but I really wanted to get a race in before the DINO season started. So, I managed to trick convince Aaron to go along on a Team Matthews Racing trip down for the race.

Things got off to a less than great start when it became apparent it had rain in Westpoint the night before. That, and Aaron's bike nearly fell off the bike rack while going 75 mph on I-65. Thanks Thule.

Anyway, we got to the course and found everything was damp and the humidity soaring. We did a short pre-ride and sure enough, lots of damp slippery rocks, roots (none of which went straight across the trail...they were all at these crazy angle so the rear tire was slipping all over. And then the trees...there were lots of logs some of which could be rolled, some which needed to be hopped, and still others which no doubt would have resulted in a serious injury had I not pulled a cross hop. So, after dabbing along the preride, we lined up for the start, which went straight up the main park road to the fort at the top of the hill. The climb was ridiculously steep, and while I could have gone faster, I held back due to some ambivalence about my tech skills. The first lap was full of lots of hike a bike as other riders slipped or ran out of steam on steep climbs. I got in behind the Cat 1 women's leader, but a few foul ups resulted in me moving backward in the field.

I had no idea where I was at the start of the second lap, but during a particularly rocky section near  the start, my rear tire slid on a slick rock, and the rear part of the bike slid to the right, towards the edge of the trail. I tried to save myself, but lost balance and started to fall down the hillside. There was a small tree just off the trail and I grabbed at it to stop the fall. Only it broke free at its base (IT WAS ROTTEN!) and I continued to fall before my slide ended up against another tree farther down the hill. I scrambled up, found myself mostly unhurt and tried to remount. Unfortunately, my chain had come off and was wedged between the dropout and part of the cassette. After a few minutes of cursing, I got the chain loose, and got to riding. But....the race was over. Following my inadvertent downhill, I knew I was at the back and had no chance to make up time. So, I decided to relax and treat the remainder of the ride as recreational training ride. And it was fun. My skills were much improved over the first lap, and I ended the race in one piece. As it turns out, I made the podium in my age group.

Although I suspect there were only three 30-39 years in my age group....I wouldn't know for sure since I never looked at the final results. So yeah.

Thoughts on Duffield? Cool park and the fort is a nice touch. It wasn't the hardest trail I have ever ridden, but it was the hardest I have raced. I think it would be a fun course for a more low key recreational ride (when it was dry).

DINO Winona Lake

Two weekends ago was the kick off of the 2015 DINO season and my first race in the Cat 2 Open wave. I prerode Winona the evening before and found the course in good shape, with a few slick corners. Later that night, while enjoying a pre-race meal at Applebee's (which was THE local hangout) , a first batch of rain moved in. Based on radar, it looked like the rain missed the trails. Unfortunately, early the next morning, a more significant series of storms rolled through which dumped on the trails.  But, no chance of cancellation, this is a rain or shine course due to the sandy soil. 

So, the course would be wet. A short pre-ride in the morning proved this, and also showed that glasses would be a bad idea due to fogging issues.

A few minutes after 10 am that morning the Cat 2 waves lined up for the start. Cat 2 Open was first up, and had a dozen riders, including two other from Matthews, Brian W., a regular adversary over the past few years, and a few other familiar faces.

The start was down a grassy lane, which took a hairpin turn, and then ran past the start line before heading into the woods. The pack stayed close initially, although Aaron, Jeff B. and Michael S. all got out to a strong along with a DRT rider. I had several riders behind me, but the slick conditions were keeping my speed in check. Steve H, another Matthews rider, and another racer (I think Gray Goat) were ahead of me, but took a wrong turn on the trail and I got around. Brian W. was right on my wheel (he was singlespeeding at 32-17,although Brian is so strong I don't see this as a handicap) and he had to deal with all of my technical missteps. After awhile, Brian passed me, as did a rider from Gray Goat. I kept Gray Goat in sight for most of the remaining part of the first lap, although I also got passed by a incredibly fast age grouper (the eventual overall winner).

I started the second lap alone and the course seemed to improve. Still slick, but not as bad. A little way into the first lap I spotted Brian W. in the trees ahead. I seemed to take my time in catching him, but finally got on his wheel and made my way around. Brian commented that he was having a rough time, but once past, I kept a lookout over my shoulder. I was concerned that if he suddenly had a rabbit to chase, he would bounce back and come after me before the finish. I nearly did myself in at one point on a steep uphill which had become very muddy. I hit it fast, lost momentum when my tires began to spin, began to slip, dismounted to run, THEN slipped and I and the bike went sliding down the hill straight at Brian. He stopped before I crashed into him, and allowed me to claw my way back up the muddy slope and get back on the bike. 

I kept going and got a gap on Brian which I maintained until the end and rolled across the finish alone, having never closed the gap with Gray Goat. I was 14th out of 69 overall, and 7th out of 11 in the Open class (someone DNF'd...). I was happy with the overall, especially considering the conditions. The Open class....eh. I could have caught the Gray Goat rider ahead of me if the conditions had been better, and there are a few Open riders who should probably be in the Cat 1 wave after this race. I'm expecting my wave results this year to not be podium worthy since I am going up against a tougher group of racers. My primary goal for this season is to push towards getting top ten overall placings.

Oh hey Brian, remember when I fell down that hill and nearly crashed into you? Yeah, that was fun.
Photo: Beth Bragg

The next race is Brown County State Park, what I consider to be the premier race on the schedule, although not quite my favorite. In a change of pace, the course has reverted back to the original version, which includes a full circuit of the Aynes Loop, including a nearly 300 foot climb to the top of the loop before dropping back down to North Tower for a climb back up to the finish. 

I'm hoping my usual climbing power shows up in full force. I'm also hoping that the forecasted chance of showers on Saturday does not impact the park. I'm getting tired of riding slick race courses. 

A Rainout Leads To An Invasion Of The Commonwealth of Kentucky

So the DINO Tune Up race didn't happen so I cannot entertain with a exciting race report about a race which does not count in the overall series. 

What happened? Well, rain happened. Despite a week of sunny weather, race day dawned with the threat of rain. There was lots of rain up north, but most was bypassing Town Run Trail Park. The race was at 2 pm, and the conditions seemed doable up until the noon hour when a large batch of rain moved in and dumped across the city and the course. My ride to the race was a teammate who decided he would skip this one, as did several other team members via Facebook and text messages. I held out hope that conditions might change, but at 2 pm I was still sitting on the couch, and a post from the race organizer a few minutes later confirmed that the race was cancelled. 

So no racing, and no start to the XC season. What have I been doing since then? I've been riding lots...especially in the mornings and on the weekends. I've been working on my cornering at Town Run, and rode at Brown County for a relatively easy ride (easy meaning I actually stopped to take photos and consider the lovely landscape). 

Lovely photo at the bottom of Hesitation Point. 

Another one at the top. 

Despite there being three mountain bike race series in Indiana, none of them are having any races this weekend. So, I looked south to the Kentucky Point Series, and the Duffield Derby race this Saturday in West Point, just outside of Louisville. The race takes place at the site of a Civil War fort, which for a history/Civil War nut like me, is an added bonus. 

The park seems to cater to downhill riders and some of the Youtube videos I have found are quite terrifying, especially for a XC rider who tries to leave the ground as infrequently as possible. I'm hoping the XC race route isn't like that, although there do seem to be some serious climbs.

Duffield elevation profile from last year's race. 

The race is only two laps on a 5 mile course, so it will likely be the shortest XC race I do this year. We'll see how it all shakes out.

Adventures in Pre-Race Bike Overhauls

Racing season starts tomorrow. Maybe. The DINO Tune Up is set to kick off at 2 pm.  Unfortunately, rain is supposed to start at midnight. So....the event is doubtful as of now.

 

But, since it is race week and I like going down to the wire on my bike maintenance, I decided to overhaul my race bike this week. So, Tuesday and Wednesday I broke the bike down and cleaned and greased everything. The bike is almost looking new. "Cause that is what you do when the race day forecast calls for lots of rain.

 

But the problem was the new Deore XT disc brakes I bought to upgrade my existing SLX. Why the upgrade? Well, the XT's are shinier. And I think that was it. Brakes should be a simple thing. Eh, not so much. Here is how it went down.

 

Wednesday Night: Remove old brakes, inspect old pads...or what remains of old pads. Pat myself on the back for getting new, potentially better brakes (at least shinier) with new brand new pads. Set old brakes aside and work on other parts of the bike.

 

Thursday Night, approx. 8 pm: Begin to install new brakes. Note that there seems to be a lot of extra cable. Shrug my shoulders and assume things will work out when everything is routed properly.

 

 Thursday Night, approx. 8:20 pm: Something is definitely off. This is way too much cable. Look at box...and front cable is 1000 mm and rear is 1300 mm. Remove front brake and compare to old SLX front brake....wow, quite a bit of difference. The SLX is much shorter. Same with the rear brake.

 

Thursday Night, approx. 8:30 pm: Try to rationalize to myself that the extra cable doesn't look that bad, that it won't get caught on trail side debris, that my number plate will cover most of it up. Ok, I can live with this.

 

Thursday Night, approx. 9 pm: What is that liquid around the rear brake mount? Is that mineral oil? Shit, it is. I loosened the wrong thing and some oil escaped. It may have gotten on the rotor and pad.....

 

Friday Morning, 5:30 am: Test ride the rebuilt bike. All works well. Except for the rear brake. Which doesn't work at all. Contamination? Maybe. And the cabling looks terrible. Sigh.

 

Friday Evening, 7:45 pm: Time to resolve this. Clean rotors and pads. Still dealing with cabling. Found instructions to shorten the cables, but decide to keep that until another day. But hey, the XT's have new pads...and my SLX's don't need to be bled.

 

Friday Evening, 8 pm: SLX brakes are re-mounted, with new pads from XT's. Test ride show they work great. Might just keep these on all season. Still have new set of XT's with far too long cables. But they sure are shiny.

 

So things worked out. My bike is clean and ready to be destroyed by almost two hours of racing in the mud and rain. Unless the race is cancelled in which case I'm watching Game of Thrones all day.

 

 

Bikes Can Be Raced On The Road Too: Eagle Creek Grand Prix Race Report

This weekend I participated in my first ever road race, the Eagle Creek Grand Prix at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis.  I'll get the less impressive part of the race out of the way first. I came in 40th out of 46 racers in the Cat 4/5 race. Not terribly impressive, right?

Well, the result doesn't tell the whole story. 

Race morning was somewhat cold, although the temps were supposed to warm by the afternoon. With the race starting at 10 am, things would remain on the chilly side. Unlike many of my other races, I arrived very early at a little after 8:30 and rode around the park and the course for the next hour or so.

The course itself is pretty basic. A perfect 1 mile paved circle with only a few feet of elevation gain for a total of 45 minutes.

Well before the race was set to start I noticed a few riders starting to line up. I wasn't sure the line procedure, whether there were call ups or a free for all like the DINO races. I continued with my warm up, and at the end of the next lap I saw that most other people had stopped to get on the line. A free for all it was and I was in the back third of the field, although I wasn't terribly concerned by this positioning.  As I explained in my previous post, I had no expectations for this race. I need to pick up the intensity of training in the lead up to the DINO season, and instead of intervals, a competitive event seemed like a good alternative for a solid workout, while keeping the race skills fresh.

So, off we went. At first it was an easy pace....which lasted all of 15 seconds. The pack sped up and began a series of fluctuations. Sometimes it would get spread out, but then it would accoridan in to a large mass which spread all the way across the road. I found myself rotating to the front several times where I was in the top 10 or 15 spots, but then I, and others, would drift back as other riders moved forward

In an act of self preservation (for my mtb season and my collarbone), I spent most of my time on the outside line. The course was a circle with a constant drift to the left. At the northern end, there was the closest thing to a corner, where the road took an actual angle.  I figured the outside would protect against any crashes on the inside lines, or in the pack as we gradually turned left. Plus I was imagining myself bailing off the road and into the grass and using my wider 35 mm to heroically miss a terrible crash ahead of me. Luckily no one crashed.  Things got dicey a few times. For some reason I recall that at 8 minutes in some silliness started. Seemed to be centered around a junior racer from a development team. A lot of shifting of lines, some ill advised braking, and profanity, and things got worked out. A few more of these moments happened during the race, and each time I was ready to bail for the grass. But, everyone stayed upright.

The pace stayed pretty high, although when 5 laps left was announced, there was a definite shiver through the field as the speed grew. The second to last lap things got nuts (from a mtb'er perspective) and the speeds grew up to 30 mph and beyond. I shifted to my fastest gear but still seemed to be going backwards. As we cross the line for the last lap, the pack really kicked into high gear and I was really getting dropped off the back. My gears were maxed out, so I got out of the saddle and got a good several seconds of power which allowed me to almost get in contact with the tail end of the pack. 

In the process a rider who had found himself in a poor position in the inside and at the back of the pack all of the sudden dove for a gap on the outside, right in front of me. I saw him coming, but was pinned against the side of the road and tapped my brakes, slowing just enough for him to miss my front wheel, but also allowing the back to continue its charge forward. I rebounded and maxed out at 33 mph, but the back was easily in excess of 35 and so it went on for the final 1/4 lap, and I rolled in a few seconds later. To be fair, that final move by the other rider was not what killed me in the final sprint. I was already on the tail end of the pack, and was not going to match their speed. I do have to wonder if I would have been able to keep up if I wasn't running cyclocross gearing, but that will be a problem to be addressed later.

 

The race was fun, I got a great workout (basically a long interval), no one crashed, and it was a new thing I could check off of my cycling list of things to do. Will I do another? Probably, but I might save it for early season training. Now it is time to focus on mountain biking.

Criterium!

As a change of pace, I signed up for a road race this weekend. A criterium to be exact. No dirt, no gravel, no mud, no barriers. Just pavement, and 40 other riders all crammed together on a one mile circular course.

 

Why? Chalk it up to a sense of adventure, a bucket list kind of thing, and because I need a high intensity workout. The intensity of my rides hasn't been all that high so far this year. Yes, there have been long rides, tough hills, and a few races which pushed me to my max. But not so much on the interval front yet. There is still plenty of time. The first DINO race, the "Tune Up" isn't until the 25, but I'm still overdue to kick things into high gear.

 

So, I figured a 45 minute crit (Cat 4/5 of course) would be a perfect way to jump start the high intensity training, while also keeping the competitive fires stoked between the Barry Roubaix and Tune Up. Expectations for this race? Very little. I'll be riding my cyclocross bike with cross gearing (46/36 up front, 11-28 in back) and 35 mm hybrid slick tires, since I use the bike for commuting and some natural surface riding.  The result? A not very fast bike. But that's ok. Plan is to try to stay with the pack, probably on the back, and get in a good workout. Might be a $25 workout, but there is nothing like having other riders in the mix to up the speed and intensity (key word of this post I think).

 

Race report will be forthcoming.

Barry Roubaix 2015 Race Report

 

The Barry Roubaix has become a sort of tradition for me, well at least a tradition since 2013. Like previous years, the weather leading up to the race was interesting. A mixture of mild and cold weather, with some rain and snow was all mixed into the

In past years I rode my mountain bike with cross tires.  After getting my Cannondale CAADX last fall, I decided a cross bike would work better speed wise since the course is not so technical as to require a mountain bike.

This decision got a bit of a wrinkle on Thursday when organizers announced that Sager Rd. would be back in the race. Sager is a “seasonal” road, meaning it nothing more than unmaintained two track.  The past two years conditions on the road were dangerous due to ice and snow (perhaps impassable would be the better word).  This year, the road was looking like this during the week prior to the race, 

Photo from Barry Roubaix Facebook Page

Prior to the race being moved to downtown Hastings, the course would take Sager Road at around 5 miles into the race.  The video below shows Sager at the 16 minute mark from a race a few years ago.

 

 

A bit chaotic. Despite this, I decided to stick with the cross bike plan equipped with a set of Schwalbe Sammy Slicks 35mm, considering the amount of pavement on the course and the packed dirt roads of prior years, these seemed like an ideal compromise between the traction and speed, even with the potential craziness of Sager.

So, back to the weather watch. The two days before the race saw dry weather, with Friday being particularly sunny, although cold.  I drove to Hastings to pick up my race packet on Friday, and then onto my Grand Rapids hotel. Once getting settled, I tracked down some local greenways to get a quick ride, the purpose of which was two fold, although seeing the local scenery was not among these. First, my bike had been tuned up the day before, and I needed to  make sure it was working well. Second, I had only ridden twice that week, and I needed to get something of a warm up in.

The bike worked well, the legs felt heavy. That evening I dined at the old reliable Noodles and Company and hit the hay.  The night was cold and clear and the temperature the next morning was around 15 degrees. The plan was to wear my new Matthews thermal jacket for the race. Once I arrived in Hastings, I did a bit of a warm up, and began to sweat after only 10 minutes. By now the temps had risen to 19 degrees, and with the clear skies, it only promised to get warmer. The jacket was dumped, and I went with double arm warmers and a wind vest. I might be cold for a bit but that wouldn't last long.

I was starting in wave 9, at 10:18,  along with the other 30-34 year olds. However, due to large field sizes, the age groups had been divided up. Last year, I was in 30-34 age group.  This year, I was in the 32-34 age group.  I worked my way up to the front of the group of waiting riders and took stock. Lots of jerseys, most notable being one rider with smiley faces on his jersey that I recalled from last year as beating me. There was also a few Bissell jerseys, a few Stryker CMS, Village Bike Shop, World Bike Relief, and a few others. It was impossible to tell who was actually in my group, so the plan was to stay towards the front at the start and try to stay with the fast guys when we hit gravel/dirt.  

The start was paved for the first few miles and fast. We kept in a large group and I stayed near the front, but things spread out and broke apart at a right turn onto the first gravel. This led to the Three Sisters, a series of three increasingly steep climbs.

I quickly discovered the gearing differences between my cross bike and mountain bike.  The gravel climbs seemed a bit steeper than normal. Plus, it was very apparent that the course was going to be extremely dry and actually dusty. Plus, it seemed there was more gravel as a result. In past years the course had been hard packed dirt road. Not this time around, and a few times my rear tire slipped on the loose dirt. About a half a dozen fast guys broke away on the on the Sisters, including a Bissell rider, and the rider with the smiley faces on his jersey. I was not able to keep pace.

Somewhere on the Sisters.

Following the Sisters, the course falls into a steady diet of up ups and downs of gravel hills with a few sections of pavement stuck in.  It didn't look like I would be able to reach the riders who had broken away following the sisters, Sisters so I settled into a rhytm and rode with a few others from my wave, including a mountain biker from the Village Bike Shop.  I spotted a rider with a SRAM jersey up ahead and set about catching and dropping him, although Village remained with me.

In addition to the Village rider, I began to go back and forth with a World Bike Relief racer. Sometimes he would get ahead by a few hundred feet, and I would catch-up and pass, and then he would appear from no where and pass me back.  Overall progress was good, and my average speed was higher than last year, sitting right at 18.5 mph. 

The next main landmark after the sisters was hitting Gun Lake Road, a long stretch of pavement, with a long climb to boot. Last year, I had set time goals to hit various points in the course.  The conditions tossed those out the window in 2014, but this year, I had recalled the Gun Lake goal was 38 minutes. As we took the left turn onto Gun Lake, I looked down and saw that the time was at 36 minutes. So far so good.

Per plan, I pushed hard on Gun Lake, and got past a lot of riders. Village was with me, and WBR was still about as well.  Some dicey riding was happening on the climb.  There was a Ford Expedition going up the main Gun Lake climb which kept getting stuck in between batches of riders.  The driver probably could have been a little more assertive in getting up the road, but on the descent on the other side, some riders began to make moves to pass the Ford on its left, including a tandem which tried to make a move a in the middle of an intersection where the Ford was trying to turn left. Things looked like they could get bad, but the tandem held back at the last minute, got yelled at by a sheriff's deputy, and let the Ford go.

Following that excitement, and the Gun Lake climb, the next big hurdle was Sager Road located at about the 18 mile mark. I dropped back alongside Village and told him he should go ahead, since I figured his mountain bike would be much faster on Sager.  Turns out I was right.

The left turn for Sager came up, and he took off. I followed at good speed and passed numerous other riders, but I couldn't match his maneirvability and lost sight of him.  Sager was interesting. It was rough, and someone had taken a 4 wheeler or truck down the road when it was wet and we had to pick lines through very deep (some deeper than 1 foot) tire ruts. At one point, I was riding down in between two deep ruts, while on my left and right, others were riding on the outside of the ruts. I was expecting the field to have spread out more than it was, but everyone seemed to be making it down the road well enough. A far cry from the Youtube videos when Sager was at the start of the race.

Sager was only one mile, and then the course took a right onto more gravel, with numerous small climbs and descents, including a few downhill turns which were very loose and one right turn which I hit with too much speed and nearly took out WBR and myself in the process.

The major hurdle in this final half was a climb known as the Wall, a steep climb with a false top, which then curves to climb an additional 50 feet. Again, I maintained a good pace, with WBR about 75 feet ahead. At the crest I kept pushing hard and began to close on WBR over the course of the next few miles.  Still no sign of Village. He had really made the most of his advantage on Sager.

Heading into the last ten miles, a strange thing happened. I had made contact with WBR, and then all of the sudden we were in a pack. The CMS/Stryker rider from the start had come from behind to make contact, and I came together with a few other riders who had been at the front of the pack at the start.  As we transitioned from gravel to the final pavement run into town we had formed a strong riding pack. It was interesting that the top riders who had been in a group at he beginning had reformed almost the same pack there at the end despite being strung out for most of the race.

Anyway, on the pavement we picked up speed and pushed hard, with everyone rotating on the front.  My one concern was some dicey riding from a younger rider in the bunch, perhaps a 11-18 year old or possibly the 19-29 year olds. While we had still been on gravel he had been riding a bit loose and had come close to making contact with some riders. On the final climb before the descent to the finish line he was weaving and getting close again which was rippling through the pack. Some riders were urging everyone to calm down. One rider came up next to me and gestured ahead and commented that things were getting interesting up ahead. Sure enough, not 30 seconds later, the younger rider crossed wheels with the rider in the front, hit his wheel, and both very nearly went down.  That killed the momentum as the packed expanded outward in anticipation of a crash (except me, who was right behind them), but both managed to keep it together for run into town.

I should note, that in this final three miles to the finish I made contact with Village. I said hello as my group went charging past his smaller paceline, and in a demonstration of his strength, he hooked onto the pack and came up next to me to say hello. At this point I decided to ask what age group he was in. Turns out, he was 30-31. We weren't even racing each other.

So, we came charging into town with the pack intact, perhaps 10 to 12 in the group. The course takes several hard 90 degree turns which slowed things up, and revealed my lack of road racing experience before the final straightaway at top speed to the finish. I pushed hard and the group began to spread and split, although WBR edged me out, as did Village. Despite this, it was a hell of a race and an exhilarating finish.

My time was 1:58, meeting my goal of a sub two hour time, and beating my previous time by 5 minutes. The weather was much warmer, and I hung around and chatted with some of the other guys in the pack before riding back to my car to change.  My plan was to change, grab a bite to eat and check the results to see if I should stick around for the awards. While it was not an explicit goal, I was hoping for a podium spot, especially following last year's 6th place.

Once changed, I went back to the post race party, had a sandwich and waited in line to check results. And to my surprise, I managed a 5th place in my age group. Unofficial goal accomplished, and guess that means I would be hanging around for the awards. Of note, the first place in my age group came in around 1:56, while the next 6 riders, myself included, were all within 3 seconds of each other.

Hooray.

Anyway, I hung around for the awards, and hung around some more. The party is fun, especially if you are there with a team, or are part of the Michigan cycling community. I am neither of those, so things got a little tedious and I began to think about the 5 hour drive home. The award for the 24 mile race were done, and an announcement was made that the 36 mile awards would not happen until sometime after three, so I went back to my car and took a nap. I walked back at three, but they were still doing some 62 mile awards. Then a band got up and started to play. I was getting a bit annoyed with the delay, although from a business perspective it made sense. The 36 mile race has the most participants, and getting all those people to stick around longer to buy food, check out the vendors, and to hang out in town is good for the local economy and the race.  But I still had to drive home!

Finally the awards came, and I got to step up to the podium with....one other person, the first place rider in my age group. Apparently the others had left already so we had a lonely, two person podium. But it was still a podium.

[Imagine a podium picture here...I was expecting to find one from the numerous official photographers, but apparently they missed me]

And I got free chamois cream. Yay.