Whiskey 50

A little over a week ago Ben, Amy,  Brandon and I rolled down to Prescott AZ for the Whiskey 50, my first race of the season.  Its taken me a while to put this together as I have been pretty tired since the race weekend, busy, and waiting on some pictures to go with it.  Better late then never, I suppose. 

The Whiskey 50 is a full weekend of mountain bike racing and a great spectator event.  Friday afternoon we arrived in Prescott, which gave Brandon and I a chance to preview the first part of the course.  We rode for a little over an hour and got about 1,200 ft of climbing, mostly in the first six miles as the race goes up from the start.  After our ride and a bite to eat, it was Ben's turn to ride, but his ride was required.  All Pros have to take the start line at the Friday night criterium, which was 20 minutes of riding plus three laps.  The laps took the men maybe two and a half minutes with the lead group setting a blistering pace.  The first five finishers received call ups for the 50 mile race, so it was interesting to see who would play with the lead group.

 70+ pros took the line, above is the lead group led by Geoff Kabush

Steep climb that separated the pack

Go time for me was 7:30 Saturday morning.  I got an ok warm up in and headed to the start line a little late as it turns out.  Many riders already staged at the start and I started a fair ways back.  I wasn't to worried as the start of the first four miles were a road climb, which would give me plenty of time to pass.  My thinking was keep a solid pace, not put in to much of an effort, and do what I could.  I was passing tons of riders, which made me feel better.  I even heard one rider say "that guy on the Niner isn't even breathing."  This is one of the benefits of riding and racing at elevation.  Prescott is about the same elevation as Denver, and max elevation of the race was a bit over 6,700 ft, which I ride higher than that quite often.  As I guessed, the singletrack still bottlenecked when I got there.  

 

Once on the trails, the race still climbs a fair bit.  I was consistent in my effort and still picked a few people off when I could.  A really loose long descent made me feel confident in the descending capabilities of my new Niner Air9 RDO.  This is the first time I raced a hardtail bike since probably 2004.  I put in a pretty fair effort on the second climb of the day as is apparent by the look on my face in the picture below, taken near the top.  I knew there was a long descent (10 miles or so), which would give me plenty of time to rest before the real test of the race, the Skull Valley climb.

Skull Valley is about the halfway point of the race.  Descending it, you get a preview of what you get to climb once you get to the turnaround point.  Ben and Amy were waiting with new bottles and food for me, which prepared me for 12 miles and 2,800 ft of climbing.  Once again, I settled into a good rhythm knowing it would take a while to get to the top and I did not want to blow up.  Few if any riders passed me in the hour plus time it took me to get to the top, which seemed to be the trend on all the climbs.  I did WAY more passing than were passing me.  Even on downhill sections, few riders were passing me. 

Once I reached the top I knew it was mostly downhill.  After passing a few riders, a few more caught me.  The group I rode with through the last 5 miles of trail actually stayed together until the finish of the race.  The last part consisted of six or so stream crossings, some switchbacks, a few rocky sections, and open fast trail. 

When we reached the pavement, the group I was with seemed to sit up as if the race was pretty much over.  I knew there were about four miles left, though I did not know if it was road or trail, or both.  I asked the group of there was anymore trail left, and the answer was no.  At this time I was in the second row or riders (three left to right two rows), sat up a bit, got a drink, and launched.  If they wanted to take it easy from here on out, that was fine by me, but I wasn't having it.  I took off on a four mile time trial on my mountain bike.  A couple of riders decided to sit on my wheel and follow.  I knew it was all road and mostly downhill, so I went as hard as I could.  My heartrate was in the upper 170s until the finish and I was pulling at speeds in the upper 20s to low 30s, which proved to me that the 38 tooth ring (old style three rings normally have a 42) was not really a limiter.  No one else in the group would come to the front and take their turn though.  This was starting to upset me after a while as no one in the group wanted to do any work, so I was on my own to set the pace.  Within 100 yards or so of the finish, two riders out sprinted me as I was completely crushed from my effort.  I tried to counter that as I stood up and gave it my all in an attempt to pass them before the finish line, but was not able to.

 Sprint Finish!

I rode in about 4:02, which was faster then I would have guessed after looking at some of the finishing times from the previous year.  I put in a good effort from start to finish, taking only a few minutes of easy riding as I felt cramps a bit around mile 40.  My results were 49/266 mens open, 92/591 overall.  Ride info here.

Sunday Ben took the line in the pro race.  Brandon, Amy, and I watched the start and hustled to Skull Valley to do hand ups for Ben and watch the race unfold.  Then it was back to the start/finish area to see how the race would unfold.  Ben had a good race.

Lead group at Skull Valley

After Sundays race, we started the drive home.  A quick stop at the Grand Canyon to do the tourist thing was the highlight of the ride home.  

Air 9 RDO

Today I took my new Niner Air 9 RDO out for its first ride at Buffalo Creek.  The weather was perfect.  It was a little warm, which was actually ideal as I need to get used to riding in warmer weather.  I rode the normal loop since I know times and how my other bikes handle with a few additional trails.  I added 1/3 of Segment 2 and Green Mountain, which I've never ridden before. 

I figured that there would be some necessary trail side adjustments and a bit of a break in period.  I stopped a few times the in the first 1.5 hours to adjust the height of the seat.  The brakes took a bit of time to get used to as well.  My legs felt a bit sluggish too as I've been doing more speed work to get ready for the Whiskey 50.  My first impressions of the bike, wow, it climbs amazing.  Step on it, and it takes off like a rocket.  Even though I did not have a lot of speed today, I was still faster to the CT from 543 then I was on my previous ride, which I rode fairly hard and felt decent.  The XTR brakes are absolutely amazing.  I've heard people talk about 1 finger braking, but never really felt comfortable doing that with my old brakes.  The power and feel of the XTR brakes makes this possible.  I was also quite amazed that I was able to use the big chainring (38/26) the whole ride except one short stretch on Green Mountain, which is a pretty fair climb.  Ride data here.

My bike is full XTR except for the cassette, which is XT.  The matching Sid XX World Cup felt sweet and looks even sweeter.  Crests, 240s, and Schwalbe Racing Ralphs rolled really nicely.  With Crankbrother egg beater 11s it weighs 21.7lbs.  I currently have a borrowed seatpost, which is a fair bit heavier than what I will have shortly.

I would like to thank Golden Bikeshop and Adam Boe, who was great to work with.  Adam was able to get me the green matching fork and the frame before Niner promised it.  He even borrowed me one of his seatposts for the time being until the one I want comes in.  Now thats customer service!  Getting the bike is especially key as a week from today I will be racing it for the first time. 

RMR Team Training Camp

This past weekend was the four day Rocky Mountain Racing training camp in Fruita.  I departed Thursday morning by myself to get there as soon as possible to let the riding begin.  Rolling solo also gave me the flexibility to bring an extra bike and whatever I needed.  I got to 18 road around 1:30 and began to gear up for a ride.  I didn't see anyone and wanted to make the most of my time there, so I decided to head out for a little while.  I did a few loops occasionally lapping through by the main parking spot, but did not see any of the team.  After riding pretty much every trail there, most both ways, and logging in more than 3.5 hours, I decided to pack it in.  As I was leaving I saw the rest of the team, which I ended up riding with for another hour.

Friday mornings plan was to head to the Kokopelli trails.  40 mph winds made us constantly evaluate what trails we should ride and what the best direction to go would be. I rode with the lead group for a while, but after an hour or so, the previous days effort, and a kinked chain, it became difficult to hang on.  I ended up going to Over the Edge to get a new chain, which solved the last problem. 

 Example of trails and views

Sunday we rode the Edge loop at 18 road.  A few miles of singletrack leads to a 8-10 mile gravel road climb.  Towards the end of the road, the climb steepens for a constant 1,000 foot climb at 15% or so grades, which separated the pack.  I started up the climb and was towards the front.  I felt good the whole climb chasing faster riders without going to hard since I did not know how far the climb was or what was in front of us for the rest of the ride.  After the summit of the climb, there were two really fun sections.  The first was really loose terrain with 30% or so grades.  If you crashed, it would be ugly. I hung on and road it out.  It was great.  I smiled and laughed knowing I just rode a sick descent and any mistake would have cost me quite a bit.  After this descent, we regrouped for a long, loose, winding singletrack descent through desert type trees.  Later in the ride we got to the waterfall, which is a 45 foot multi-pitch rappel, see pictures below.  Some fun trails lead to an open area. 

Careful with that bike!

 1st pitch done, now time to swing

Sunday a small group decided decided to ride the Ribbon trail, which sounded like a lot of fun.   A long climb followed by a fun singletrack downhill.  A mile in the cable on my rear derailleur broke.  No long climbs on the singlespeed for me.  I ended up riding 18 road for 3.5 hours as I knew it was singlespeed friendly.  It was getting near the end of the ride and a long weekend as I lapped through near the car.  I was about to quit, but the Honeystinger team was there, and after getting a Honeystinger waffle hand up, I had to ride more. 

It was a fun weekend great weekend camping and riding with RMR, my new team.  I got lots of riding in and rode a few new trails.  Our new team kits are pretty sweet.  Hopefully I can get at least one more weekend in the desert before it gets to warm.

WRIAD (6) on a SingleSpeed (4)

White Rim In A Day has seemingly become an annual event.  Back in 2008 it was my first century, first century on a mountain bike, and it was my first look at endurance mountain biking.  Its also become a nice early season measuring stick to see where my fitness is at.  Its also a great single speed ride with amazing scenery the for the majority of the ride.  Eric and I decided it was time to get out of the city, head to the desert, and see if the early season training has paid off.

A long day at work and a long drive put us at camp at about 11PM Friday night.  As soon as we arrived I found a nice soft spot in the sand and laid down for a few hours sleep.  5AM arrived and it was time to get moving.  I started pedaling a couple minutes after 6 and the gradual climb up the dirt road warmed me up quickly, which was nice as the sun was yet to rise.

A few miles of road riding before we get to the Park

The trail is down there somewhere

Still descending

The day was shaping up very nicely.  As we reached the end of Mineral Bottom road we were greeted with a nice sunrise.  The forecast for the day was a high of about 80, and it seemed to approach that early on.  As a single speeder, the first 35 miles or so presents a few good challenges with longish consistent climbs.  I was able to get through these sections and still feel good.  My personal goals for the day were to try to ride consistently and try to stop as little as possible.  If I reached my goals for the day, I will up the ante by riding a bigger gear the next time I take the single speed for a lap (32x17).

Gas tank with cookies!

Part of being able to ride consistently is eating and drinking on a regular basis to keep fueled.  I brought my Mountain Feedbag and filled it with Honey Stinger bars and my camera.  I stuffed my gas tank with cookies.  Both of these allowed me to eat as I was pedaling.  I also tried to bring less stuff overall so I would not have as much weight on my back to slow me down.  

Along the way we encountered a group of riders from Salt Lake City who were doing a 3 day trip.  We ended up riding with them for 20 to 30 miles.  It was nice having some added company and their group  seemed really nice.  At about mile 64 I came within a foot of getting "doored" by some lady in a Sportsmobile.  This is probably the closest I've ever come to getting hit by an opening door.  Then came the lead up to Murphy's, a series of 4-5 pretty steep but short climbs.  I made all the climbs except 1, which I could not get because my tire spun out as I was out of the saddle in an attempt to just turn the pedals over.  The final climb up Murphys is when single speeders use their third gear, hiking. 

Murphys is a great place to eat lunch and take in the view as its the high point in the area and 67 or so miles in.  The SLC riders were arriving at the same time.  Eric and I decided to hike a little ways from the road and sit on some rocks for lunch.  We heard someone in the SLC group say "Coke" shortly after their support vehicles arrived and we got excited.  How nice would it be to have a cool sugary soda in the middle of the dessert!  After talking about it for a few minutes, I gave Eric $2 and said "I buy, you go get Cokes."  A couple minutes later he came back with ice cold Dr. Peppers!  

Their is a nice descent down the backside of Murphys and a few smaller hills shortly after that.  The time seemed to fly by and it was evident that both of Eric and I were still feeling pretty good, especially after lunch and a soda.  Hardscrabble is the next big challenge around mile 87.  This again is mostly a tough climb that turns into a hike.  After Hardscrabble, the main challenge is the final climb.  1.5 miles and 900 or so feet.  I was 0-5 going into this ride.  As the miles ticked off, the anticipation grew.  I've wanted to clean this climb for years.  I made sure to drink often leading up to the climb.  I made the turn and started up.  It was a struggle to turn the pedals.  I had to stand the whole way up just to turn the pedals over.  My breathing was labored.  Once I got to the final switchback, I knew I had it.  Even as I got to the car, I knew I could keep riding if I had to.  The climb and really the whole ride seemed much easier than before.  I think I passed the test.  I finished with 41 minutes less of ride time than any of my previous laps of the White Rim.  Next single speed lap will be done with 32x17!  Data here.

 Burgers and vegies on the grill!

 Top part of the final climb

Beginning of the final climb

Yesterday by the numbers

9hrs at work
3:34 pedaling for 64ish miles with a 15lb backpack
2 hours and change at the rock gym

Ups and Downs

Todays ride with Eric started off with big plans.  The route had a lot of climbing, was going to be all roads of different types, and done on mountain bikes.  They are way more fun to ride and there is still some ice on the paths and dirt on the roads from recent storms.  I had a good ride Saturday, but did not think my legs would be that tired from it.  The headwind out of the south we rode against for the first hour was enough to tax me a fair bit.  Then we climbed.  Deer Creek to High grade.  It was painful.  I didn't have anything and my outlook on this ride was quite down.  Turning the pedals was agonizing.  I stuck it out and made it to the top where I ate some Honey Stinger Limeade chews and a Honey Stinger Berry Banana Buzz bar. 

After our short break we doubled back down to the High Grade Deer Creek canyon intersection.  It was so cold I stopped to do jumping jacks to warm up while I waited for Eric.  During the climb up to the top of Deer Creek canyon road I started to feel better.  Not great, just better.  Parmalee Gulch was much better.  I was feeling good.  A few hard efforts and a failed attach to far from the peak changed my outlook on this ride.  On the ride down to Morrison, I even tried to reel in a few roadies (I was still on mountain bike).

A little over 5,000ft of elevation gained and 5 hours.  It was frustrating that it took me two hours to get my legs under me, but the last few hours were great.  Looking back though, I guess I did have a decent rolling 7 days of training.  Info from todays ride here.

Pinned

After Saturday's snowfall in the city, Ben, Les, Amy (did not race) and I headed up to Leadville for the Tennessee Pass Night Jam, the second race of the Leadville Winter mountain bike series.  It was the first time a pinned a number on the Pugsley and it was the first race of the year.  Thankfully Leadville did not get anywhere near the amount we received in the front range (15-50 inches).  We stopped at the Tennessee Pass Cafe for first dinner and 4-5 cups of coffee.  Conditions were near perfect.

Ben (right) and I (left) warming up in 5 degree weather

Les and I just before staging

The start of the race was pretty cool.  65 mountain bikers with lights on all set to go.  Two short but decent climbs lead to a long winding decent.  The course was groomed and in great shape, but its still snow.  The easiest way to descend in snow is to just let it go, but that gets pretty sketchy with turns and trees.  Add in a few noticeable "ruts" in the snow where people in front of me wiped out, and negotiating the descent became interesting to say the least.  Case in point, I started wandering a bit to the left halfway down.  Braking hard would have surely caused me to crash.  I continued to head to the left, sort of planned as it looked untracked.  All of a sudden my front wheel hit soft snow.  My bike stopped instantly, sending me cartwheeling over the handlebar.  Les passed me just as this was happening giving him a great vantage point and something to laugh at.

Now the chase was on.  I had to catch Les.  Once I got to the open meadow I upped the tempo a bit and began to pick riders off, including Les.   I latched on to a single speeder and we would end up yo-yoing the rest of the race.  The rest of the race was pretty uneventful.  Some fun descents and a pretty difficult climb for a 35lb bike in snow lead to the finish.  Even though the temperatures were around 0, I was not cold at all.  My Northwave Artic Celcius shoes were amazing-cold toes are the worst, everyone else seemed to complain about them.  The Leadville races are super fun, and I especially like the night races.  They are usually a great test of fitness, with summer like XC race efforts.  167 heartrate for Febuary, that is crazy, as my effort was pretty much pinned the whole time.  Race data here.

Les's sweet new Twenty2 Cycles Bully

Still fueled up on caffeine and telling the story of going over the handlebar