Thursday 27 December 2012

Christmas 2012

Update time,



Well after the 24hrs of Rockyhill, and the long drive home. I took a few well deserved weeks off of training and racing . I figured it was a good way to get my head back into day to day life of work and raising a family.

*Translation*  complete all of your half finished projects you left, from the start of last year's race season. Yeah, I get it. OK , some painting and electrical, and some more painting. I get all these jobs  finished around the last week of November. Happy house, let's get some more saddle time in.

Normally, the snow doesn't hit Calgary before December , and if it does it certainly doesn't stay until well into the Christmas season. If last year is an indication of our winters here , I was  riding all through to the  beginning of January with a decent shell and some light  layers of wind protection.

It's halfway though  January through to March  that are our cold miserable months here

  Not this year...  literally 2 days after I got home the average temps were dipping into the "below zero range" .

 When Zach and I went out on Halloween evening for some trick and treating action. we ended up cutting the fun short because Zach was getting pretty cold, from the -12C temps.

So, it looked like I would be resigned to riding a month or 2 early this season on the trainer.  Happily,that changed with one  great ride with Julie in the snow (with my narrow studded tires mind you) to convince me to try and get a bit more riding outside  this winter.

Enter  the "Bar mitts"and the Ïce Spiker Pros". Shaun rode on tires like these all last winter in Rossland,   And Julie has a set on her bike . They love the tires and they seem to work pretty darn good.
 So I ordered a set and man, do they look like business.  I;m looking forward to getting out and trying these out.


Now onto more important items:

Pal's


A Birthday,


A Christmas concert (or 2)



Trying to sleep Christmas eve....

Christmas trees and presents

Some fun Coffee experimenting.


Merry Christmas and all the best of the New Year to you and your families









Saturday 27 October 2012

2012 24hrs of RHR

So... while vacationing in Penticton this last August, I learned of the cancellation of the World champs in Canmore that was scheduled for September this year. That left me with an open slot for an ''A'' race to finish off the season. I had pondered the National Champs in Colorado Springs. However that wouldn't work as it was only open to US citizens.

So over some beers with Shaun at the campsite, he and I kept coming back to the 24Hrs of Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville TX. It kinda went like this...

A great grass root event, a chance to hang and chill with John Russell (Another athlete coached by Shaun, and really cool guy). Finally, a great opportunity to fuel up on some of the best Tex Mex and BBQ (and beer) that Austin has to offer.

Then there was that small item of unfinished business. That was for me to improve on my 2nd place finish at this same race in 2011.

24 Hours of Rocky Hill



 


This year was different than last year, as in... instead of just me heading down, it was actually going to be three of us racers heading down from Canada to partake in this. A real fast solo racer named, Julie Kelly ( also coached by Shaun) Shaun himself, and me.

As I planned to drive down, I could take all of our bikes, and equipment in one fail swoop, stopping in Butte, Montana long enough to pickup Shaun, his bikes and gear. Then blast off for the balance of the drive to Austin, approx 36hrs all toll.

On the morning of Wednesday Oct 17, with a full tank of diesel, and a full cooler of food, I hit the road.

8hrs later, I pull into the Best Western parking lot in Butte, Montana, hook up with Shaun, load up his gear and bikes, and 30mins later we hit the highway, Austin bound.

The GPS in the truck sent us out of our way around 170kms, (WTH?) and with a 1 hr forced detour, (thanks to a sandstorm)... add in various pull-overs for resecuring bikes due to the high wind and for fuel, we arrive in Austin around 2am Friday morning.

With  36+ hrs of driving under our belts, we finally get to  John Russell's house. John is also a racer and Shaun coaches him as well. He is super fast and has won 2 titles at this event in the past . So even though he wasn't able to compete in this race with us he was available to run our pits.

We all wake up at around 9am Friday morning, grab a small breakfast and chat for awhile, we load up and make the drive out to Rocky Hill Ranch for pit setup and a preride.
The preride was fun with me leading, and my bud John behind me, with Shaun after him and Julie picking up the rear. Around 52 minutes later and the preride under our belts, we setup our pit. We then pick up our race kits, visit with the promoters, and fellow racers and call it done, as we all jump in the truck and head off to Freebird wraps for an early dinner.

I ordered the "monster wrap" I would summize that it was in the 3-4 lb range, and yeah... I ate it all. It was a great night before meal for me. Back to John's and early to bed so we could get an early start for the morning drive back to RHR.

8:30 am all of us are up and on the road to RHR. By 11am we all have our kits on, and are ready to get this event going. Another athlete of Shaun's is competing as well (Antonio) he is also a very capable endurance athelete and I had raced at Gallup, NM earlier this year with him. Thad W and Shaun H also show up and and start helping us with our pit as they had volunteered to help John manage all of us in the pits. I was super happy with this as they both had previous race experience at this event as well and Thad just pulled off a very impressive 5th place finish at the Reveille's Peak a few weeks earlier.

THE RACE

11:55am Shaun, Julie and I are standing on the start line... 12pm and we are off for the Lemans start, Shaun and Julie are off ahead of me by a mile as I do my best to keep pace the best I can.
I round the corner and see John holding my bike for me as I hop on it for the start of this 24hr race.

The weather... it was overcast all morning, but by now that has all but burned off and we have a pretty sunny day with the highs expected in the 34's, (which it did BTW).

First Lap:
So, for the first 10 minutes I start to work my way up the field of riders ahead, just so I can settle into my rhythm without a bunch of traffic. It was a great idea until halfway up a punchy blind corner climb, a rider ahead of me rolled backwards and into me. I fell down the side of the bank, wrapping up in my bike like a pretzel as I couldn't unclip  my shoes in time. Not fun watching the balance of the race field ride away from me while I spend the next few minutes trying to get untangled from my bike.
So back on the bike, I start to ride a bunch harder to 'rework my way through the crowd, and pretty much on the start of my second lap, I get back to where I think I should be.

The balance of the day was pretty much uneventful... I was settled into my pace and riding fairly smooth, no stops in the pits, just tossing a bottle and grabbing a fistful of bottle on my way by. The day was getting hotter, and I was seriously looking forward to the night laps so that I could have some cooler laps. I figured this would be the time to start making a move to the front if I could.

Night time:
I was hoping that the evening would bring some relief from the heat and humidity... the clearings are all that felt cooler (and not by much) but as soon as you would head into the woods, it was like riding into a wall of hot humidity. So much so, that around my 10th lap I started to feel some discomfort in my legs with slight cramping. I knew this was brought on from losing so much fluid from perspiring. In fact, if I would say I had a painful lap, it was my 10th lap. I started to really get into the electrolytes and by the end of the race I was racing on nothing but on that.

The wee hours:
Around this time I start to lose my eye for detail and just focus on pounding out laps and keeping my nutrition in check. I thought at the time that Shaun was ahead of me, and that an ex 3 time winner and current 3rd place US Nats champ was ahead of me. I just didn't know how much. I just kept thinking that I will turn it up when I need to and that I felt really good for being this deep in the race. In fact it was somewhere before midnight that I was fortunate to ride a few laps with Ray Porter. Ray is a legend in Texas, he rides a SS and he is super strong. He and I raced together last year at this event (right after he completed the Tour de Divide race). I have a ton of respect for Ray and his previous accomplishments and it was super great to race with and against him at this time. A great guy!

So, it starts to get interesting around this time of night and I'm positive I wasn't hallucinating. Tree frogs... hundreds of tree frogs all over the trail, some even got the squish from bikes. Then of course there were the snakes that sauntered out onto the course. I had seen 2 coral snakes and ran over one. Then I ran over a big black and green snake, which know one knows what it is... the last one may have been in my head. But,...you couldn't miss seeing the Coral snakes. Man they are super pretty and dangerous... I can only hypothesize that they were there for the frogs.

I came into the pits somewhere after midnight ( I think l or could be later) and saw Shaun and Julie chillin out. It was only then that I found out from Shaun that I was in 1st position and that I had a lap on the 2nd place contender. He suggested that I take a small breather, which I did quite happily. It was a pretty special time as the 5 of us (John and Thad as well) talked about the event and the little things we experienced up to now. We had some serious laughs and jokes flying around and man it felt pretty cool to experience this with these guys. I will remember this for a long time.... So fun!

After about 10 mins of chillin, Julie headed out followed by Shaun, (btw he had just found out that his lead over his nearest competitor had shrunk, due to some timing delays). I was concerned about this as well, so I was out of the pits maybe a minute or so behind Shaun.

Around the 4am mark while out on course, I notice that my back wheel is actually bottoming out on the roots. I pull off the trail real quick and feel that my tire is quite low in air. I was concerned about this, but at the time I thought I would just add some air from my "big air"canister and finish off my lap. Uhm yeah, NOT! who would have thought that when I tried to add air to the tire that it actually let more out because I had a faulty "Big Air".  Are you kidding me?? So now I probably have 10-15 lbs pressure in the rear tire and no way to fill it up. I literally spent the next few minutes with the majority of my body weight over the front wheel so as to not pop or roll my rear tire.

I did this for about15 minutes when a fellow racer came up and I asked him if he had a pump. He stopped and gave me his Big Air and I was able to get enough air in my tire to get me back to the pit. I totally thanked this gentleman, then and after the race... that right there is why I love the people of Texas.

I limp back into the pits and my tire was pretty close to flat again. After a few minutes inspection from Thad, he noticed that I had a tire that was separating from itself.  Maxxis had this problem for a little while last season and it seems like I bought one of the last ones that have this problem...lucky me.

Thad and John hook me up with my spare bike, and off I go to ride my last night lap. When I came back into the pits after the lap, John and Thad had me sorted out with a spare wheel and tire, and I finished the balance of the race with this combo. It was John's wheel and tire from his personal bike and I can't say enough thanks for him for that.

Now I'm just riding defensively and enjoying my race. I feel really good, (even though it's starting to get pretty warm again)... especially with the sun coming up. It gave me renewed energy.

I complete my 21st lap and pull into the pits. Here I see Julie, Shaun, John and Thad. We discuss whether I need to keep racing or call it a day. At this time I seriously do not care either way... I still feel pretty good, and I know I am good for another lap if I need to. John ran to the tent and then back and said that there was a rider still on course riding his 21st lap and that they were expecting him back within 15 minutes or so.

There it is... Shaun hooks me up with some techno, Thad hooks me up with some nutrition and I ride out with some purpose of putting in a fast lap. Which I think I do... I pull off a 1:02 lap including some 3-5 minutes chatting and having a seat while we decide if I need to go out again.... I was happy to finish like that.

I pull into the transition area 24hrs and 34mins and somewhere in the area of 350kms completed. I come across the finish line in  1st place. I'm greeted by my friends and I feel great to be a part of this and all of our good results.

After the awards ceremony we drive back into Austin and hit up Rudy's BBQ, and then back to John's for some laughs and beers and good times for the next 2 days.... Then there was the 40hr drive home, but it felt like coming full circle.


 
I want to send out some heartfelt thanks to:

First off to my wonderful wife Coralee, she is awesome and supportive, we were both sad she could not make the trip, however there is next year.....   :)

To my coach and friend (and now driving partner) Shaun, it was truly inspiring hearing (while I was racing) how you were swinging that battleaxe! Congrats on your 1st place SS win and fastest lap!


To John, for my motivation, support and the use of your home while in Austin, 'Keep on Keepin on amigo"
John lost his mother to cancer earlier this year and that bracelet really hit home for Coralee and I.
Thank you for the honor John.
 
To Thad for staying up all night and keeping my nutrition and for all things pit related
To Shawn H, for pit support, sorry I wasn't chatting much but I knew you were there for us.. thanks.
To Julie for some ground breaking inspiration. Congrats on your 1st place win for open female!

To Dr Dave Westmacott, and all the staff at AST, thank you for fixing up my body and getting behind me in this sport. Thank you!

To Pedalhead bicycles in Calgary, for servicing my bike and for setting up my bike...I can't say thanks enough guys.

Last and  certainley not least, all the great people of Terra Firma and Rocky Hill Ranch who put on this great event year after year. Thank you











Sunday 29 July 2012

Race report, 2012 24hrs Of adrenaline




 Around 4pm on Friday:

Coralee and I, with our son Zachary were headed out to Canmore so I  could compete in the 2012 24HOA. The conditions when we left Calgary were quite favorable with the weekend forecast for sunny skies for both event days.

However, Friday turned out to be the wild weather day, as we drove straight into a monsoon at Deadmans flats. The rain and wind were so fierce it forced us to slow down to 60km/ph. until the weather subsided and we were able to drive clear of the weather front and arrive safely at the Nordic Centre in Canmore.

After about an hour of pit setup, tent, tables, lights, chairs etc, I head over to pick up my race package. After that was done, we all agree that it would be great to get checked into our hotel and grab a bite to eat. That would leave enough daylight for me to go for a quick lap of the race course before heading off to bed.

Well, finding the hotel and getting checked in was the easy part, getting a restaurant proved not so easy, as reports of  2 mudslides in and around Banff had a lot of the restaurants in Canmore full and not taking any more customers. After being turned away from 2 restaurants, we found a Lounge that would let us bring Zachary in and order dinner.  An hour later with full tummies we head back to the hotel so that I could get out for my 45 min scheduled ride and Zach could get to bed.

Hmm not so easy, another downpour rolled in when we arrived at the hotel, and I decided that I wasn't going to risk riding in that crap, until I absolutely had to. Cor put Zach to bed and I figured it was a good time for a last minute check on my race gear. It gave me something to do as it was too early for me to go to bed.

Race kit...check. Shoes, helmets and lights...check. Charger for lights... Check... err wait, one charger yes, but the plug in adapter for my main set of lights wasn't attached to the charger. I start tearing into my supply boxes, and no luck. I start to think that it's stuck in the wall socket at home in the garage where I have setup a charging station.

I tell Cor, I plan on making the drive back to our home in Calgary and see if I can find the plug-in adapter, then I would head back to the hotel in Canmore. She says she would try and see if she could get Scott (her brother) to check and see if it was there and bring it over to Vince and Laura's house as they were planning on coming out in the morning to support us.

A nervous 45 minutes later I get a picture sent to me via text from Scott showing the plug-in adapter and that he is enroute to Vince and Laura's. Man, was I relieved!

6am Saturday morning:

I wake up, make a phone call to Beamers coffee house. Great! They are open at 6am. Back to our room at 6:30 armed with a couple of latte's, breakfast sandwiches, and orange juice for Zach. I start looking through my Facebook and start seeing reports of a storm at the Nordic Centre the night before, except that there was mention of tents being destroyed and part of the race course damaged. As we are eating and getting ready for our day, Cor and I both are hitting "refresh" on our phones for updates.  8am we arrive at the Nordic Centre, our tent is destroyed and our gear is blown all over the pit lane. A quick phone call to Vince and Laura, " Are you sure you don't mind stopping off at CT and picking us up another tent?" Great ! Ok see you in a few hrs.  Bailed out again.... nice to have support!

While we clean up our mess and start getting setup as best we can, we get a couple of offers of free usage of tents from other participants, as well as the organizers. Very cool, how everyone was willing to pitch in and help. That is the heart and soul of this event, I was proud to be part of it, and because of it I was starting to feel good about my race and that I could start to not worry about our setup, that I could start to really concentrate on my 24 hr race.

Around 10am we hear on the loudspeaker, that the race has been postponed (first time ever) until 1pm so that the course volunteers could do some repairs to the race course because of the storm. At this time my Coach Shaun, with my friend Scott and his wife Lisa show up with big smiles and start setting up their storm damaged tents. The pit and the venue itself is starting to buzz and come to life... it seems that everyone is showing up to help or to get ready for the race.

12:45pm a new tent setup at my pit, a few laughs with my firends, new and old, next thing you know I'm standing at the start finish line with Shaun, waiting for the gun to go off.  I'm ready for this event I have done some good preparation for this and I can't wait to get on my bike and turn some laps.

1pm, we're off for the Lemans start, I hang with Shaun for a bit during the run, but I can't keep his pace, I hate running. 5 or so mins later I'm on my bike, and heading out on my first lap.


The first 6 hours are pretty uneventful, as I ride my bike and get in some decent laps. Early on in the event I see some of my friends from Calgary make the drive out to support me. It was cool to see them, and I really appreciated. I get some high fives from my son Zach as I pass him on pit row, as well as from Jo-Jo and Danilo, (Vince and Laura's twin boys). I'm having fun and feeling good.  As night approaches I get my lights on and settle in for the night laps,  My sponsor's from AST are at my pit cheering me on, and then later at the start finish line. Very cool!

I get reports of a bear and cougar sighting. I don't see them, it doesn't mean I wasn't keeping an eye out for them. I hear "go solo" as I round the checkpoints and common area's, it's a great vibe and the people that volunteer and participate in this event are the best. 

I get some solid lap times in during the night. I'm able to move from 11th overall up 5th, and then again to 4th by the morning hours. It was great to get the lights off, and get riding into some daylight, the first lap of the morning is my favorite by far, and it was shaping up to be a warm sunny day.


At 11:45 am Sunday, I complete my 17th lap and I'm told I have secured 3rd spot, 2nd and 1st are just a bit too far away to pull back, but I still go out for another lap hoping for the best and enjoying my last lap of the event.


24hrs and 8 mins later I finish my race and get a 3rd place podium placing at this kick ass event. I am truly proud of this, and grateful.

I may have ridden this event solo, but it was by no means a solo "effort".

I have to thank, my wonderful wife, and son. They give me the motivation and the support for my training as well as Cor being a Kick ass Pit Manager.

A huge thanks out to my coach Shaun,  (Forward Momentum coaching) still the toughest dude around who has forgotten more than most racers know. As well as making the best coffee I have ever had. I continue to learn, thank you

To Vince and Laura, I (we) are truly blessed to have you as our friends and we are grateful for all your support.

To my sponsors, Active Sports Therapy, Dr Dave and Dr Claire. You guys rock and I'm truly proud to wear the AST logo on my jersey!

To Alex, and Al at Pedalhead sports in Calgary, for setting up my bike and making it race ready. I really appreciate the top notch service you guys give me.

To my b-in-law Scott, no matter what dude, you came and got my lights sorted out . Thanks!

To my brother in Austin, TX your support and friendship is always there when I need it . Now let's go riding!


To all the organizers and volunteers (and Crazy Larry)  who work this event year after year. Yeah, I heard ya at 3am when I trotted through the timing tent. You guys are incredible and deserve a big pat on the back for this.

For a great read on this event:
http://pedalmag.com/?p=167168

Next stop, Worlds :-)






Thursday 19 April 2012

A short Moab video

The day after DTD on the way home . The weather was awesome, with no signs of what happened the day before 4hrs south.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xUoHFZTxVM&feature=youtu.be

Wednesday 18 April 2012

2012 Dawn til Dusk..

Well, with a few months of training, and preparation, I jump in the truck, load the bikes, and head south to Gallup NM to compete in 12 hrs of mtb endurance racing.


http://www.dawntilduskrace.com/

The trip down in itself is  a bit daunting. Around 2200kms of driving with approx 25hrs on the road. This would allow for some sleeps in the back seat and some dinner breaks.

Leaving 3 days prior, I wanted to get down to the event as soon as possible, without speeding tickets etc. This would give my body a chance to maybe acclimate the to 6500' elevation that Gallups boasts. (Calgary is 3900'-4000').

I thought that this would be my biggest challenge, boy was I wrong....
So out the door I head, on a warm Wednesday afternoon, 4:30pm  armed with a cooler full of food, a Google map, 2 bikes, race gear, tools, water, tent, table, and a goal in mind.

Jumping ahead, I hit all 3 seasons in the drive, including a monsoon downpour in Salt Lake. I finally arrive around 9 pm. Thursday evening at the Econolodge motel on historic route 66 in Gallup NM.

While checking in, I meet up with a fellow student of Shaun's, Antonio.  He and I had been chatting back and forth about competing in this race. I had met Antonio in Austin just prior to the RHR race last October.

I have to say he was looking really fit, and you couldn't miss him for the huge smile on face, which is surprising in itself after flying in from Austin and then driving the 2.5 hrs in a rental van to Gallup. You could tell he had a long day as well.

I unload the truck and get my room setup. At this point I'm pretty darn hungry as all I have really eaten in the last day and half is the bagel sandwiches and oatmeal I had packed from home. I "Yelp" Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately the top 3 restaurants that come up are closed for the night, so I opt for lucky #4 "Le Somberero" restaurant.

After being setaed,  I order up a large ice tea (it was real too, not pop) and 2 chicken enchiladas with rice and refried beans. Truth be known, I couldn't finish the plate... and the flavors were absolutely awesome. I highly recommend it. Don't let the 5 year old Christmas lights hanging from ceiling put you off. The food was fantastic.

Off to my cozy motel room and off to bed.....yeah, not. The interior walls were assembled prior to the invention of batt insulation. I could hear every word of conversation from my neighbours next door. Hell, I would have joined in if I could speak spanish , "pour favor" so around the 12 am mark my neighbours head off to the washroom, and then into bed for a sleep. I know all this... because their toilet was working just fine as well as their snoring. So armed with earplugs I finally fall asleep at the 1 am mark.

4 am I awake to my other neighbours heading out to work,  I know this as they enjoy watching the news in the morning with their coffee the same as I.  I finally get back to sleep and wake up around 8am, Friday morning.

A beautiful cup of pour over coffee, a shower, and off to meet Antonio for breakfast then a preride and then later on to pickup our race packages up at a local bar restaurant.

Sammy 'C's
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sammy-cs-rock-n-sports-pub-and-grille-gallup

Breakfast burrito at Dennys, was spot on followed by 2 cups of coffee, a couple of pit stops for directions, and to buy more water and /bottles and next thing you know, Antonio and I are straddling our bikes on the start/finish line ready to do a little preride on the race  course.

THe course itself was a bit on the dry side, there was a lot of sand in the corners , so you really had to make sure you slowed down for the corners or you could get yourself in trouble. There also was quite a bit of wind, on the outcrops at the higher elevations.

The wind didn't bother me as it is typical of Calgary riding this time of year. What did concern me was the storm that was forecasted for the day of the race.


Just to back up a bit, the forecast for Saturday (race day) has been unfavorable for the last week. I remember looking at the forecast on Monday, seeing that the weather was predicted to be as a low (in the morning ) -3C and a high of 13C in the afternoon, with a 40% chance of precip.
I was pretty excited to read this as this was also typical of Calgary weather this time of year, and thought that these conditions would be well suited to me. Unfortunately as I drive down and checking the weather, I notice that the prediction for  race day  is becoming more and more grim. The latest forecast put the conditions at 35-40mph winds, and a low of -4C and a high 3C  with a 60% chance of precip and most likely in the snow format.

Again I wasn't too concerned about the temps  but I was starting to get a bit aware of  what too much precip could do to the already super dry course. You see last year the event was stopped,  10 hrs into the event  thanks to  these similar conditions. In 2010 the race was cancelled all together thanks to this weather. I have no control over this and we just have to hope for the best, I have good clothes, and good equipment, we will see where this takes us.

Friday night, Antonio and I dropped my truck off right next to the race course, and we elected not to setup the tent as we figured that if the wind picked up we could have a problem. I parked the truck to give us as much shield from the weather as possible, and setup the table on the "less breezy side" of the truck with spare gloves, and all my bottles and supplies, as well as Antonio's  This would allow both of us to do the ride by and grab what we needed without losing any time in the race.

9pm, with the number plates on the bikes, a preride and a huge dinner under our belts we both decided to call it a day. Well.... around 11pm I finally get to sleep, as this is when my neighbours decided to call it a day, ( after some crazy violent movie of course).



I awake at 1pm so darn hungry it's not even funny. I make some oatmeal, read some e-mails on my phone and reply :) do a little stretching and foam roller, and I finally get back to sleep at around 2:15am.


4:30 am  I wake back up, this time for the day. I start making some pour over coffee for Antonio and myself.  Looking out the window, I see great weather conditions. I'm thinking it's cool but hardly any clouds. I think we are in for a great race! The forecast and all the weather professionals are wrong!


The Race:

6:40 am standing in the timing tent, for the prerace meeting, some highlights were: when the wind picks up, "be careful of the cliffs" "We've lost some riders down there". Okeydoke, mental note...

If and when we call the race due to weather, (because we have a storm forecasted for today). One of the Course volunteers/marshalls, will let you know on the way by or when you check in for your lap. This will be considered your 2 hour rule, meaning that the event is over in 2 hrs.

Off to the road we go for a mass start. 7am... go....

Lap 1
They start us all on the road at once, and for around 2 or so miles we ride on fire road as this will give the fast riders and not so fast riders a chance to position themselves naturally. Then they funnel us all down into single track  and onto the course.

We head off. I ride with Antonio for a  minute or so, and then I decide I have to get with my group so I step it up a bit. I hear Antonio behind me yell out  "go get em Dave!"  which I though was pretty cool.

I work my way into the lead group of the race not knowing  who is in my category but assuming I am with the faster riders of the course. As we continue on the Fire road I start to see the "going out hard" not so fast riders drop off the pace in front and settle into their own race pace.  I push on, and put myself (I'm assuming) up in the top 20 of the race, as I can't see any riders past the line of the group I'm in.

I settle in and get setup for the funnel to the singletrack expecting castastrophe, when this happens but it goes off with out a hitch.  Which is good. I did have one really aggresive rider thread the needle between myself and another rider, first hitting my bars with his and then the other riders. This is all part of it I think, and just let it go with out a second thought... even though it could have ended both our days right there.

Current weather conditions: Sunny and cool with a good breeze,  beautiful conditions.

At this point I find my flow, keep my rythmn and stay in contact with the lead field, I don't get passed by anyone as I am at the end of the front pack, with no one presently behind me...  I like this.

I ride into the start/finish line and see I am still in the top group with a 56 min lap, but I have a small problem, I have to take a bathroom break. With the long drive and my diet messed up, being awake so early, drinking coffee etc etc... you get the idea. I wouldn't want to get stuck out on the course without taking care of this.

Post bathroom break Lap 2:
I get back out on course and I see the wind is starting to really pick up and some really thick and dark clouds are rolling in.....here we go.

Now I have to work my way through riders again to find my group, I'm pretty much convinced, it will not happen this lap but it will on the next as long as I stay at my current pace.

At around the halfway mark of this lap, I see the snow start to come down, at first really light, like dander. Within  20 mins the snow is now "quarter" size and blowing sideways, and yes you feel it on the cliffs.

I finish this lap and start seeing some familar bikes ahead when I head out on....

3rd lap
My hands are starting to get cold, I'm wearing my "kayak" gloves but they are doing nothing for the wind. Good thing I brought my Lobster claw gloves.... I fight for what seems forever to get the claws on my wet cold hands. It happens, but man it took some work. Off I go!

The course has changed exponentially at this point, it is like the top layer of sand (on the climbs) is a really sticky mud that peels on to your tires leaving a dry sandy strip underneath  for the precip to do this magic once again. The tires would hang onto this crap, unless you were going fast enough so that it would fly off and hit you in the face and body but at least it would allow the tires to keep the thickness of mud that was sticking to it down to at least  3/8" or so. It would make a funny sound too while riding in this mess, it would be like the sound of horses or cows eating. I dunno I'm reaching....

About 3 miles into the this lap I pass a course volunteer who then says, "the race has been called" "this is your last lap, make it good". I yelled back to him and said "you're kidding!"  At this point he said "nope!"

I think back to the morning meeting and figured that since I was not told as (I checked in from my previous lap), to start this lap, that the 2 hour rule has now started. That would still mean that I have to pick up the pace either way.

I pass everyone and everything I can see, I see that alot of people are having bike issues, and I'm more lucky than them. I start to think that I may have to ride my spare bike to complete my fourth and final lap as to not take a chance of a mechanical.

The course sucks, plain and simple, it's super greasy in the lower sections and when you climb out you get the mud sticking to your tires and flicking in your face. At this time I got rid of my glasses as they were so gummed up I couldn't see out of them anyways. This is where I adopted the squint method which worked pretty good for the most part. However what mud that was not going in my eyes was now going into my gaping mouth, which evidently, was to capture air not mud.

As I turn the last corner into the start finish line I see a few people standing at the line and another girl was stopping people from going out, which she did for me as well... when I rolled in.

20+ hrs of driving and 3 laps later my race was done. Now what do I do? 

Go clean up and eat a huge lunch with my buddy Antonio, over some beers!  Complain about the race a little, and move on.....






2am Sunday morning, I'm back on the road headed north, I figured I had some legs left in me to do some biking in Moab on the way home.  Which is just what I did.


I'll be adding some videos very soon, so check back. Until then here is a vid from the first lap of the race before the camera crew pulled the pin.


http://www.pinkbike.com/video/252589/










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Wednesday 21 March 2012

New Season New Name

So, I'm sitting on the couch typing this, reflecting on the fact that I have been shut in my house for the last 48 hrs trying to kill this virus that has infiltrated my body. I am starting to think I am winning this battle, however if you had asked me last night , my answer would not have been the same.

So some updating, as I seem to have some time on my hands.....
Oct,Nov,Dec, Shaun got me in the gym for some strength training, which I think really helped, with my power. Somewhere around December, Shaun introduced me to my bike again, I was able to start spinning on my bike trainer.  In the last part of January we headed down to Mexico with Coralee's brother and nephew. We had an awesome time, and beleive it or not I was still able to get some decent training in on "cerveza time". at the gym on the resort.

Then back to Calgary and with our mild winter I have been able to alternate outside rides with some indoor trainning.

I was also able to get a 100mile(6 hrs) session in on the trainer one day, which was not pleasant , but necessary

It was around early  December that Cor and I had mapped out my race season.  In less than 3 weeks I am off to Gallup NM to race in the 12hrs  of "Dawn til Dusk" race.  It will be my first 12 hr event period, and the mindset is different than that of a 24hr. I would like to say that it is easier, but I don't think so . It's  just different as I think the effort level is much higher.

After that Coralee is competting in a half marathon here in Calgary in May,  She has been training like a trooper  in preparation for this event.

I'll probably enroll in a couple of XC races here  and then in July it's off to Canmore for  the  "24hrs of adrenaline" and then back again in Septmeber for the "World  solo championships" in Canmore.

I'll have more updates the closer to racing in Gallup.

So lot's of plans and lots of training ahead, now to get rid of this darn virus.