State Games Race Report

So this past week saw me reintroduce intensity into my training, join up with my first mountain bike group ride, and race my first mountain bike race of the season.

After hitting some hard intervals Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I went out to Lake Crabtree to meet up with the TORC Wednesday night group ride for the first time. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it was great and all the guys were very friendly. It was cool to be with a group of guys to talk about bikes and chat before the ride and then roll out with a group of 15 or so guys onto the trails. Most of the guys were just your average recreational riders, so the pace wasn’t quite as high as I had hoped to begin with. However about a quarter of the way through I moved my way up to the second wheel in the pack just behind the ride leader. After that he saw I could hold his wheel he got progressively faster and faster until he finally just started smashing it. We were leaving the rest of the group behind and going downhill faster than Iv ever went on that trail. It was great.

At one point we rounded a corner and I saw his shoulder catch a tree. The tree began to shake, then I heard a snap, I looked up just in time to see a huge 5 foot limb smash me in the face. What are the chances? Anyway it turned into a hard ride and on the final climb the leader finally dropped me. It was the kind of intensity I was looking for and Ill definitely be back.

On to the race. I guess the report really starts Friday evening when the wife asked me to go out to eat at our usual Mexican spot. I told her I wanted to but I didn’t think it would be such a great idea the night before a race as it usually makes my stomach feel a little off for the next day, but after a while I gave in and we went. It was a great meal, but as usual when the alarm clock went off at 5am the stomach was rolling. I set out and after a little over an hour an a half I pulled in the Hobby Park parking lot just after 7:30. I saw Jim Smalley, official/promoter/good guy to know in the NC mtb community, standing in the parking lot and after a brief chat I went to get my bike ready for my warm up lap. I had got there pretty early so I could get a lap in before the race to get myself familiar with a trial I had never ridden and to have a bit more riding and fun for my 1.5 drive.

The trail was a lot of fun, not the kindof trail you expect in the city limits. It had a lot of technical features with rock piles and drops and flowed well. On top of that it had a sneaky lot of elevation gain, I think almost 1,000 feet in 6.5 miles.  The climbs were all  steep and punchy and I figured I would have no problem just stomping up them come race time. After riding for about half an hour I ran into two of the promoters on the trail who informed me I was going the wrong way. I knew immediately where I had got lost, and it had been a ways back. So my quick warm up lap turned into over an hour ride, but I don’t regret it. This wasn’t a priority race and I really enjoyed getting the extra riding time in on a fun and challenging trail.

As the start time approached I came up to the line and lined up on the front row with a few pretty fast looking riders. The start would go straight up a huge grass hill that would separate us from the gun. As the gun sounded three of us quickly separated ourselves with me sitting in third. As I noticed the guy in front of me was losing the leaders wheel I accelerated easily by him and caught the leaders wheel before we hit the top of the hill. I felt pretty good and as we hit the single track I held onto the leaders wheel as we bombed the techy terrain and left the third rider behind. It was a ton of fun being able to sit at the front of the race, but soon I realized I had gotten to warm on my warm up lap. Those short hard 1 minute hill sprints were adding up and I quickly realized I didn’t have that short top end power back yet. I knew the leader was going to have to slow down or I was going to get dropped soon. The funny thing was that now I was having no problem hanging on the downhills, even making up time, instead of of getting dropped like before. Finally after about 2 miles with my heart rate through the roof, I picked a poor line over a root on a climb and had to unclip to stay up. By the time I got back going  the leader had a gap and I didn’t have anything in the tank to bring him back. I knew we had opened up a big gap on the next guy so I decided to get my heart rate down to a manageable 185 or so and just not make any mistakes and hope the leader did. He didn’t, and I rolled in second in Cat 3 19-39.

                                                           Pic of the Air 9 in its final form

It was a fun race and I always enjoy riding in new places. I was pretty happy with my fitness at this point as it was just where I figured it would be. My time ended up being good enough for forth out of 19 in all cat 3 regardless of age group just 25 seconds off third. Im definitely going to work in a few more mtb races this season.

Next I think Ill head over to the finale of the Ace speedway series next Tuesday. Its fun to race on the track...look for a report next week. 

Air 9 ride report...

Well Iv had the Niner out on the trails several times now, including a trip back to the hometown trails in Wilkes. Bottom line is Im having trouble finding motivation to ride the roadie anymore.  

I headed out to the Lake Crabtree trails, which Iv never actually had the chance to ride before, for my first real ride.  I had looked at the map but as with most trails there are so many connectors that you can quickly get turned around out there, but my plan was to just make all right hand turns when I came to an intersection.

As I got to the trailhead I noticed three guys hanging  out talking and so I stopped to ask if they minded me following them around the trail so I could get a feel for it. They said sure, and we set out for a loop around Crabtree. I hadn’t realized how “new” the guys were when I had approached them, but it was fine I was out for a base ride and they were great to ride with. We joked and rode around at a leisurely pace taking time to stop and talk. It reminded me a lot of when I first started riding with my friends, before I had ever even heard of training. We would turn an 11 mile ride into an all day adventure, but we had fun and I miss that kind of riding. Anyway after we finished the loop I told the guys thanks and went on for two more laps around the 7 mile loop. It’s a great trail system that reminds me a lot of the trails at home, just a lot flatter.

It took me a few laps to figure out the air pressure on the fork but once I got it dialed on the third lap it felt nice. The 29er just rolls so well and bombs the descents. Also with the new 60mm stem I put on the feeling of driving a bus is gone. It feels quick and nimble and I had no trouble getting through the tight sections and switchbacks. I may have found my new go to saddle as well. I cant believe how comfortable the Ritchey WCS is for such a lightweight saddle. Even with a 2+ hour ride I didn’t have hardly any pain until right at the end my neck  started to hurt a bit from looking up. I had the bike set up in a very racy position which I like and is fine for anything sub 2 hour, but I want to do some endurance racing on this bike as well so I decided to throw one 5mm spacer under the stem for the next ride.

I took a Saturday to swap the tubes out for a stans tubeless setup. It was actually way easier than I expected and I could really tell a difference in the ride quality the next time out. The place the 29er really shines is on those rocky fast almost straight descents where you can just let it roll. And when those bigs wheels get to rolling nothing is slowing them down. There are a few rocky nasty dowhills that I use to ride on the 26 rigid that I just bounced and “plinkoed” down and now I just glide scary fast over them. The bike feels snappy as well, and accelerates nicely up the climbs (though I do miss the rigid for those few brief seconds). Honestly its just a whole new ride and Im lovin it so far.

Ill try to keep the 29er praising to a minimum after this, but I think the pros for the 29er wheels undoubtedly outweigh any cons.

Over the Memorial Day weekend I took a chance to get in a brief ride back home. Those trails are so smooth the 29er advantages don’t jump out at you but just the faster rolling characteristics really make a difference to keep your momentum through all the flowy sections. That is one thing I like the best about the 29er is being able to put down the power in the flat sections and zoom along like im on my roadie on asphalt.To be fair there are time I feel the bike is a little hard to muscle around tight turns, but as I said the 60mm stem has helped this feeling a lot.

I ended up cutting the steerer with the one spacer underneath. I think this is a good compromise between racy and comfort. Im really happy with the setup, and honestly cant think of another thing I have to change. On a side note, I went to Cycling Spoken Here to pick up  star nut, and they guy went in the back came back and handed it to me. I asked how much and he said “were good”. I know that doesn’t seem like much, but that’s the kinda thing that makes me loyal to a lbs.

Ill be testing it out in the racing environment this weekend at the state games. Im not expecting much from my fitness at this point, but hopes are still high. Look for a race report.

A Little Forward Thinking...

Well since taking my last exam I had a nice relaxing few days at on the outerbanks, wrote a 10 page law review article in 3 days, had my family down for the weekend to do the whole Raleigh tourist museums type thing (which was actually a lot of fun), and started my first summer job. However, even though nothing has slowed down I have got back on the cycling wagon this week.

Iv been easing back into it a bit, but I have put in some good efforts over the past few days and Iv been pleasantly surprised at my fitness. I sat down Sunday night with the Cyclist Training Bible to put together a plan for the Middle and Late Seasons. 

I guess I should touch on what that is going to look like before I talk about training for it.

Im thinking that will be little to no racing in May, then for June Ill be doing some odd and end weekday crits and mountain bike races. The in July the real racing will start. First will be the NC State Champs road race the second weekend of July, then the NC State Champs Crit the last week. Then the first week of August will be the Crossroads road race. Finally the Southern Off Road Series Finale on my home trails in Wilkes the last week of August will end my real race season. I’m hoping to do some endurance races like the Wilkes Point to Point later in the fall.

Those are the ones I know for sure and the ones that Im training for. There will probably more added but they wont be a priority. 

So back to training.

 My first 6-7 weeks of the summer Ill be working as a research assistant so my hours are very flexible and ideal for cycling. However when the season really kicks up Ill be working at the court of appeals and time will be at a minimum.

I had planned to just do base for the next 4 or 5 weeks, but after this week I may cut that back to just three weeks. Iv really felt good setting in zone 2 on the trainer. I think possibly my base is still there, but its just all my power that’s gone. So well see how it goes but Im hoping to start the rebuild phase by the first of June and be ready to go again by the big stuff in July. Ill be trying to put in at least 10 hours a week for the next month.

Unfortunately, its been raining all week here off and on so the trails are closed.  How sad is it that Iv had a new(to me) bike for over a month and still have yet to ride it on a legitimate mountain bike trail. Its happening Friday whether the legit trails are open or not. There are trails here that don’t close and its going to happen. Its not suppose to rain anymore so hopefully itll be dry enough.

Ill try to have a real ride report up next week.