How I learned to stop worrying and love the granny gear (Gravel Grovel 2012 Race Report)

Turns out, I’m not an endurance racer. Not that I didn’t already know that as the 6 hours of DINO was a pretty clear shot across my bow. But after Saturday’s Gravel Grovel, I realize I need to train more to ever hope of competing in these races.

But, despite this gloomy intro, I was fairly happy with my race overall. This year’s edition of the GG had a change in start line from the Maumee Boy Scout Camp to the Midwest Trail Riders Camp. This venue was conveniently located right of 446 which made for very easy access from Bloomington. Also different from last year was the weather. Saturday was partly cloudy but with temps in the mid 20s, with a projected high in the 30s. A slight change from last year’s 50+ temps. The course also changed slightly but the mileage was still set at 62. 

A view of the riders behind me at the start. Not sure why I didn't take a photo in front of me as well.

My weapon of choice was of course my mountain bike, only with the cyclocross tires I have been using of late as opposed to my standard Maxxis Ignitors.  My primary goal was to finish the race in under 5 hours. Luckily, my knee issue form earlier in the week was a non issue for the entire ride.

The roll out was fairly orderly and I was in the front half until the course hit a hard left turn onto  a slight hill and the first of the gravel roads at which point everyone freaked out. A few people hit the dirt, while some weren’t in the proper gear and lost momentum in the gravel and had to hike out of the traffic jam. I was properly geared and I stayed upright but I still got caught in the jam and had to dismount for a short run.

 The first hill was at the end of Hunters Creek Road, a straight up paved climb. Not too bad, and I managed to spin past several people. Once up on level ground  (Tower Ridge Road) many of these people I had passed caught me and there was some more loose pack riding leading to a turnaround at Todd Cemetery.

Just before the next turn south there was a short downhill followed by a slightly longer uphill. I proceeded with caution due to my skinnier than normal tires, and upon hitting the bottom of the descent I began to get a little squirrely and found myself drifting to the far right and onto the shoulder. Kind of a controlled drift, but still kind of uncontrolled because you know if you try to correct the drift too abruptly you will crash. I recovered but had drained my speed and was starting to go uphill. However, while focusing on not flying off the road, I had forgotten to downshift, so I hit the climb in a terrible gear and was forced to stop halfway and run. I lost the pace line I had been in and was passed by a few other riders including a tandem.

 The route turned south towards Hickory Church and followed some generally rolling terrain until hitting a sizable climb on the eastern side of the Maumee Boy Scout Reservation. This was followed by some pavement, then more gravel which took everyone back to the Tower Ridge Rd. This was followed by a descent down to Maumee Bridge.

Around this time I began to hate my cyclocross tires. Maybe they were rolling faster but I could nto tell. All I could tell was that they were sketchy on the gravel, shaky on the descents, and the ride was terribly rough, even with the lockout off on my Reba. Next time I will use my Ignitors and save the cross tires for…cross races!

Just before Maumee Bridge I ran into a rider pulled off on the side of the road. Usually if I see someone stopped I will slow down and ask if they are ok. If they have a tube out or are otherwise repairing the bike I figure they can help themselves. This guy was just standing eating a power bar. I slowed and asked him if he was ok, and he responded with the quote of the day: “Yeah, I’m just sick of all this gravel.” Amen to that. Crossing Maumee Bridge leads to Combs Road, the most mountain bike-ish section of the ride which includes a brutal climb. Liberal use of the granny gear allowed me to conquer that hill without walking.



Gravel Grovel self portrait. Still early in the race since I'm not
gasping for air yet.



Following Combs was the climb up Elkinsville Rd. hill which was just as bad as it has always been. Upon declining on the other side I was heartened to see that almost every rider coming back from Story was walking their bikes of the hill. Good, I wouldn’t be the only one walking when I come back that way. 

After that downhill was a flatish/windy section over to the Story Inn SAG stop. Following up on my pledge from the 6 Hours of DINO, I availed myself of a banana since I had felt some cramping start just after Combs. As I expected, it was terrible. BUT, I had no cramping problems for the remainder of the ride.  While at Story I called my wife to let her know my progress, loaded up on some snacks, and made a quick bathroom break, and was off again. Save for the hike a bike up half of the Elkinsville Road climb, the route out of Story was fairly uneventful. After crossing the Maumee Bridge the route went south of the scout reservation and followed Polk Patch Road to an intersection just north of the metropolis of Norman, Indiana. There was one large, and several slightly smaller hills in this area. Nothing to worry about, except the Forest Service had just laid brand new gravel along this section which made riding extrmely difficult.

I had been riding with another guy for a few miles through the aforementioned new gravel hell when I heard a tinkling sound coming from the back of my bike. I remarked that I thought I had a broken spoke and after listening for a second, he seconded my diagnosis. I rode for a few more minutes but began to worry the spoke might get caught up in the chain and foul up my drive train. I pulled over, and sure enough, broken spoke. I had a spoke wrench but for some reason I could not unscrew the spoke. I wrestled with this for several minutes before in my desperation seeing if I could bend the spoke to loosely wrap it around the spoke next to it. It would still make noise but at least it would stay out of my drive train. I tighten the adjacent spokes a bit and took off. About 10-12 minutes had been wasted and I had been passed by about 5 riders.

Crossing my fingers the rear wheel would hold I continued and eventually arrived at the Hickory Church SAG. As I rode by a volunteer he said six miles left. I gritted my teeth and accelerated into the best section of the course which consisted of smoother than normal gravel roads (sometimes almost a dirt road), short easy elevation increases, and then a rapid descent to a flat valley section leading to the finish line. I was pushing hard and was at 18-19 mph almost the entire time.

I came into the finish line with a time of 5:08. So much for my sub 5 hour goal. I had a feeling I would not make it, even with the speed in the last 6 miles. But, if you consider the time I spent trying to deal with my spoke I would have likely been well under the 5 hours. Ah well. That is life. Once again, despite a mid ride hate thought (just like last year) that I was never going to do this race again, I had a great time and will come back for more. The post ride food was great as always, although next year  I hope Yats serves Chili Cheese Etoufee.

I was hoping to win a few door prizes, but the awards ceremony which was supposed to start at 3:30 did not start on time and my wife and I had to leave at 4 to get back to Indy to get our dogs out of the kennel. Too bad, since there seemed to be a relatively small crowd hanging around for the awards and I liked my chances.

Full race results may be found here. Looking at some GPS tracks of the race it appears there was just over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Not a  bad day in the woods. Except for a cross race next week I have no more races until sometime next year. I’m flirting with doing the Sub 9 Death March for a second time, and I’m also thinking of trying out the Barry-Roubaix race in my old stomping grounds of Michigan. Sounds like a fun race.

Nuts

There are a few things you do not want to happen two days before a 62 mile race. Typically I am paranoid about my bike breaking down. Instead, I pulled something in my left knee. I was riding home from work on the Monon yesterday afternoon and felt a twinge which intensified to a constant ache by bed time. I iced it and overnight it seems to be better. I'm going to do a quick spin around the neighborhood to see how it feels and then will proceed to take it easy for the next 48 hours. I foresee more ice and ibuprofen in the future.

Fighting for 50th: IndyCycloplex Cross Race Report

Not much in terms of posting lately due to work being very crazy. Such a level of craziness in fact that last week I rode my bike to work once. Just once. And I didn’t even ride it home. I ended up getting a ride that evening home from work and left the bike in the basement of my office. Fast forward to Saturday afternoon and I find myself on the start line for the Indiana Cyclocross Series race at the Cycloplex at Indianapolis. What could go wrong?

Since my first foray in the CX scene at the Backyard Cross on October , I had this race in my sights, primarily because it is only a 15 minute ride from my house. I could spin over, do the race, and spin back, and be on my couch in no time. Plus, once the weather report solidified and showed clear skies with temps in the upper 50s, there was really no excuse.

Saturday was my wife’s birthday so she was under no obligation to see me struggle through 45 minutes of mediocrity and went for some spa time. My parents did go to the race which was great, since they haven’t had an opportunity to see me race before.

I was called up in the back third and the field and the race started with a roll out down a paved road with left turn into grass. And ouch, the grass sucked. The first part of the course was a bunch of twists and turns out in a wide open field. My speed dropped and I was passed by many. I was struggling to maintain 10 mph when we came to two long sections of mud, already badly rutted from the earlier contests. The pace dropped more and slow motion crashes and tip overs were in abundance. Even getting out of the mud I couldn’t seem to get my speed up, even when I was riding in the worn down trail left by earlier riders. Add to it the over exertion I now associate with the first half lap of cross races and I was having a dandy time.

The end of the field section included a set of two barriers, which caught me by surprise as I had not seen them when I looked over the course earlier. I got over them but upon remounting couldn’t get clipped in immediately and was rear ended by the guy behind me. The course then jumped onto a roadway section which went past the start/finish line and then climbed up a steep bluff. Would have been nice to have my bar ends for that one. At the top of the bluff was a mountain bike like trail which weaved into several extremely off camber areas and very steep turns. Lots of folks were either slipping down the hill in the off camber areas or were taking the steep turns too steeply and crashing through the route markers or going over the handlebars. In this section there was another barrier, right near the Shamrock Cycles tent. This thing was right on a corner at of an uphill section which required a dismount and then a run up the hill. Luckily a photographer was positioned right at that point and got a nice series of photos as I tackled the barrier.

We then went down several wide switchbacks, which resulted in a few more crashes, and then a short and straight downhill into the parking lot and back into the field section. I performed decently through these sections although I was physically beat after just one lap. Just like at the Backyard Cross I decided that this would be my last cross race. However, things did get better. Just not until a few laps later. The second lap was more of the same, as was most of the third. Heading into the fourth lap I got hooked up with two other riders on cross bikes and started riding in rough pace line. Problem was, they were just slightly faster than me and would get a gap in the grassy sections, only to have me catch up in the mud sections and after the barriers.

Entering the last lap found me with these same two riders. The hilly sections were still close, but upon dropping off the hill and back into the field section the front guy gapped me and other rider in the muddy sections. I stuck with the second rider but could tell he wasn’t going to chase. After a long out and back straight away with a sharp turn, I decided to try to catch rider #1. He was a few hundred feet ahead but I figured if I make contact before the asphalt I might have a chance. With that I pulled around rider #2, told him I was going to try to catch #1 and said he was welcomed to hook onto my wheel. The race for 50^th place was on!

Rider  #3 dropped off, but I slowly gained ground on #1. At this point I was exhausted but having a carrot out there helped me to grit my teeth and push harder. Hitting the last tight turn before the barriers I was less than 40 feet behind #1. We hit the barriers and both crossed with no problems. I had a good remount and as I clipped in I heard the distinct “thrip thrip thrip clink” as he shifted into his big ring and a higher gear. I shifted into the big ring and slammed the rear downshift trigger hard to drop several cogs quickly into a harder gear just as we hit the pavement. He started a sprint with me right on his wheel and as soon as we cleared a curb with a lot of gravel I popped around on his left side, pulled even, and pulled ahead as we hit the finish line. Yeah I sprinted for a 50^th place finish. But it was fun and I dug deep to push through to catch and pass rider #1. That is good practice for mountain bike season. 



End of the sprint for 50th. Huzzah.



Overall I finished 50^th out of 75 and 24th out of 33 in the standard Cat 4. I would have liked a bit higher but considering the prior week, I was just fine with those results. It was a beautiful day and perfect conditions and a very enjoyable day. For now cyclocross is just a distraction from post MTB season blues. I could see next year perhaps taking it more seriously although I would still probably limit my races to four or five. The next race is three weeks away and I plan to spend some quality time riding grass laps down my Butler University. To prepare Perhaps this will help in the next race.

 In other news, Saturday is the Gravel Grovel. There has been a change up in the course this year so it should be an interesting ride. The weather report has gone from highs in the 60s, to a high of 50, to a high in the upper 30s. Still, as long as there is no rain, all should be fine. A report will be forthcoming.



New (to me) bike fever

Some may have heard of the formula used to determine the right number of bikes to own: N + 1, where N equals the present number of bikes you presently have.  Well, I have succumbed to the mathematics of bike ownership once again. Two weeks ago I purchased a used full suspension Motobecane Fantom Team frame from ebay.

This was partially the result of giving my wife a new cruiser bike for our anniversary. Before this, she had been trying to make do with my original mountain bike which was a Walmart purchase and was much too small for me. However, even as a Walmart purchase, it was something of an aberration as it included several brand name parts, and the wheels have been very solid (as in never going out of true after a year and a half of hard riding).  Having a surplus of 26 inch parts and the need for a winter project I began to hunt for a used frame on craigslist and ebay. Not only was the Motobecane reasonably priced, but it was also full suspension which I have wanted to try for some time. Some of the decals have been scratched or peeled off, but the frame itself is in good shape.

The Motobecane Fantom Team. Phase one of the Winter Bike Build.

With the frame purchased I have begun gathering other parts. Not top of the line parts, but more mid range new and used parts. If the bike works out, I will upgrade the parts. If not, I have a limited investment and will sell the bike. Still, searching for the parts for a build is one of best parts of building a bike. I like to search online (or in the clearance bin at shops) for good deals on various parts. For this build I already have quite a few parts, including a spare set of Avid BB7 brakes, so that is covered. Same with the saddle and the crank and bottom bracket will come off of the old bike, along with the stem and wheels. I also have a handlebar from another bike.  I purchased a set of take off X-5 shifters along with a new x-5 rear derailleur ($20.00!) from ebay and a Shimano XTR front derailleur from the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association buy/sell forum.  A seat post is a work in progress.

The parts pile thus far. Also have a set of Ergons which will join these parts on the Motobecane.

The old bike has a Rock Shox Dart 1 fork, a low entry level fork. While it works fine, I feel like this fork may not be up to the task for a full suspension bike, so I am toying with the idea of getting a stouter fork off ebay, such as the Rock Shox XC32, the apparent replacement for the venerable Tora, or a used Tora if I happen to run across one. The XC32 is fairly heavy but since this will not be a race bike, it is not a deal breaker for me.

This is supposed to be a winter project something to keep me occupied once the weather grows cold. Therefore, although the parts are being gathered, no work will be done on the bike until after December 15. Just so I am not tempted I have placed the frame out of each reach in the rafters of the garage.

Backyard Cross Race Report

That was an education. I went into Saturday’s cross race with no expectations other than to experience my first race and see what this trend was all about. 45 minutes later I had a good idea of what it was all about: exhaustion.

I’ve been in tough races before, but those tended to be due to a lack of fitness. Here, the course conditions are what killed me. As I mentioned in the previous post, rain had made an appearance the night before the race. As expected, there was mud. And it was horrendous. But first let’s set the stage.

The race is part of the Indiana Cyclocross Cup and was held in Bargersville as a undeveloped housing division save one home, thus reuslting in the name 'Backyard Cross.'Since I’m not going to buy a cross bike without doing a few races I drafted my 29er for the dubious honor of carrying me through the first race. I removed the bottle cages (since I read an article online that said you should do that for style purposes and it apparently makes the bike easier to shoulder) and my precious bar ends. I also got a pair of Kenda Kross Supremes (700x35) to replace my 2.1 inch tires. The Kendas seem like a happy medium between a small and skinny cross tire and a mountain tire. They may even work for the Gravel Grovel in November.

Anyway, the Cat 4 (or “beginner”) group lined up at a little past 2 pm. I was called up (based upon preregistration) to a position somewhere in the middle of a roughly 60 strong field (total of three mountain bikes). The initial start was uneventful as we rolled out down a stretch of asphalt roadway. The road ended after a few hundred feet and we entered the dirt which led to a wide sweeping left hand turn which was a muddy mess having already been chewed to pieces by the previous waves.



The start! From asphalt into the slop.

Another blog I read referred to the mud onn the course as peanut butter, an extremely accurate description. I would go further and say it was like chunky peanut butter….mixed with a healthy dose of grass. The pace plummeted immediately as riders tried to negotiate the mud while trying to find some sort of line which would provide traction. The turn led to a low, fairly long incline which was also pure mud. I tried to work my way on the right side of the incline but the rider in front of me lost momentum and dismounted to run it. At this point it seemed this was the faster route so I joined him and several others in running struggling to the top. At the top I remounted and entered a twisting and turning section that led into two barriers. I had been practicing for this and nailed the dismount, the crossing, and sort of nailed the remount.

This led to a long field section which went past several team tents and more squishy grassy peanut butter mud. This was a terrible energy drain. The frustrating thing was that if the course had been dry, or even tacky, I would have been able to charge full speed and rail into the corners. Not going to happen in that mud. Following the field we entered the most mountain bike like section of the course with a fun downhill followed by a single track like path, another descent, a quick up and down and then back to the grassy muddy climbing.

Charging over a rather mud-less hill. Missed the bar ends in this race.

In this section we hit a natural barrier where the course was routed over a large tree followed by a hard left. The tree was too tall to jump (might have been possible had I not been so beat) so I ran across and got restarted. From here the course continued to several back and forth sections along the side of a small pond. This was mostly off camber and muddy riding with  very muddy, slow corners. The course then hopped back on the asphalt for the run to the star/finish line.

I felt like a kept my position well during the race. I was passed by several people but I also passed several riders. The remaining laps went about the same as the first. On the second lap I found a good line and was able to ride up long incline at the beginning of the course. I was also able to ride up several other short hills that others were walking/running although they were almost going as fast as I was.

Overall I had no crashes and I made it over all the barriers with no issues. I finished 22^nd out of 33 in the Cat 4 wave, while I finished 44 out of 63 overall. Not the greatest performance, but since it was my first race it was certainly acceptable. The opening intensity of the race was no surprise as I suspected it would be similar to a cross country start. However, the overall intensity and effort needed to not only turn over the pedals in the mud, but to also wrestle with steering was surprising and terribly fatiguing. The course was such that if not for the mud I could have set into a steady pace. This just wasn’t possible for me. I had fun, but would have had more sans mud. Also, the terrible advice regarding no water bottle holder was ridiculous. There were plenty of opportunities to take a quick drink even in a 45 minute race and it would have helped to have a sip or two of water or Gatorade. I’m already racing cross with a mountain bike. Why should I worry about style by removing my bottle cages?

I will do other cross races because I think they are great for race experience and race tactics. I can see the race skills from cross translating into cross country racing.  However, I think if there is rain in the days leading up to the race I may bow out and opt for a road ride instead.  There is a race this weekend in Martinsville, Indiana just south of Indy. However, the forecast currently shows rain the day before and the day of. I may have to sit this one out and hit the road to find some hills instead.

All quiet on the cycling front.

Not much happening on the cycling front recently. The DINO series concluded in September, and I did do a few underground and unofficial short track races at Town Run. This was a first for me and I found the races to be a great time and good trianing for shorter, higher intensity races. Hopefully there will be interest in getting an official short track series started next year since previous attempts have not had much success.

I'm still commuting in everyday and on the weekends I have been training for the Gravel Grovel in November. I did this race last year on a whim to see if I could complete the "ride." I completed it, but not in grand style. This year I would like to do a bit better on the race side of things. I'm mainly doing long miles on the weekends with as much climbing as possible. Unfortunately in Indianapolis, that means lots of hill repeats at Crown Hill Cemetery for Fort Ben. Takes awhile to hit 1,000 feet climbing when the "climbs" are all of 80 feet.

Lastly, I have decided to give cyclocross a try. Cyclocross (or CX) is kind of unholy cross between mountain biking and road biking. The races take place mostly off road on a less than 3 miles course which has several manmade obstacles, such as barriers, and sandpits, that must be crossed. Some of these obstacles require a quick dismount and remount. Also, these races love mud. Apparently mud makes it that much more fun or something like that. I have learned to despise mud from mountain biking as to ride a muddy trail results in trail damage and scorn from your peers. Also, riding in mud just isn't fun for me. Additionally, the spectators at CX races heckle racers mercilessly throughout the race. Still, feeling a need for a race, I decided to sign up for a CX race in Bargersville later today. I entered in Class 4 as a beginner and slapped some 700 x 35s on my 29er. Absolutely no expectations for this race as I only want to see what this is all about. If it is fun, I will certainly try again. If not, oh well. However, we did get a half of inch of rain yesterday. There will probably be mud....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I learned several things at this race:

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

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

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

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

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

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