Putting it all on the line

October 16th was the Knickerbocker 8 hour race held in Cool, Ca and was the end of the Global Biorythm Events series. This is a 4 race series which consist of some greuling races and some heavy hitting racers. Race #1 is the Coolest 24/8 in the spring follwed by the Boggs 24/8, then the Tahoe Sierra 100 and ending up with the Knickerbocker 8hr.
Going into this event I was leading the pro/expert 8 hr class. I had only done races #2 and #3, but had amassed enough miles to be in front of my team-mate Hyland. Hyland's focus had been on a different race series and I just sorta fell into the lead since most of the 8 hour racers didn't compete or finish the Tahoe Sierra 100.
Nonetheless, I had to defend my lead so I did a proper taper leading into the race and actually ate like an athlete leading up to the event. I had never ridden in Cool so the terrain was all new to me as was the course.
Lap #1 went well. It was mostly recon work, trying to figure out which gears to use, when to drink, when to stand, etc. Each lap was 10.5 miles with a little over 1,000 feet of climbing. My first lap was 47 minutes and I knew I was going WAY too fast. Laps 2 and 3 were more realistic. I bent my chain and had to straighten it with the screwdriver part of my multi-tool. I rode laps 4,5,6 with another team member, Chris. I felt like I was riding strong, but I was in 5th or 6th place, but no one was close to lapping me so I knew my lead was safe. I gutted out lap 7 and put myself in position to complete an 8th lap. I only left myself exactly 1 hour to finish the last lap. It was faster than my average lap, but I'd been in that position before. I rode a 56 minute lap which was my 2nd fastest lap of the day and finished in 7 hour and 57 minutes and in 6th place. I rode 85 miles with 10,200 feet of climbing.
Awards came and went with many classes for the Knickerbocker. Then they did the awards for the series totals with male and female classes. Unfortunately for me, they only did total miles for the whole year in all classes combined-including the 24 hour racers at races #1 and #2. Obviously an 8 hour racer can't match miles with guys riding 3 times as long. So Hyland(who vomited on himself on the last lap) and myself were standing there, completely spent, thinking WTF?!!?
Sometimes, as racers and mountain bikers, we put it all on the line when there is no line at all.

Whiskeytown Classic

We have good friends in Redding,CA and used to live there so any race I can do at Whiskeytown I jump on. The field size was small-ish compared to the other races I had done this year. I think folks are winding down a bit or gearing up for 'cross season. I hadn't done a Cross Country race for many months so I wasn't sure exactly how my body was going to respond. Nonetheless, at 9am under rapidly warming sunny skies the gun went off and the usualy all-out sprint began. I'm not sure why XC racers always want to sprint for the first few miles, since it doesn't make any sense physiologically or from a stategy standpoint. The first 2 miles were on a fire road and the race was 30 miles long! However, I got caught up in all of the need for speed and was somewhere in the top 5-7 when we hit the singletrack. I soon passed 2 racers and knew I was in good shape. Somewhere around mile 7 my rear tire started feeling low and by mile 9 it was nearing flat. I was hoping to limp back to the start area and use the pump that was next to out car. Thanks to Stan's tire sealant I was off the bike less than 1 minute, but had 2 racers pass me. I headed off for lap 2 and was in a really good rythm. I rode for the whole lap and didn't see anyone and as far as I could tell was in 7th place. Lap 3 came and people were slowing down. I slowly passed my way into 4th place. I finished in 2:41 and was 2nd in my age group and 4th overall.

Tahoe Sierra 100

This was mt first '100'. I've went over 100 miles on traditional endurance races several times, but those races you have a pit with your own goodies and you get to know the course very well over the numerous laps. You also have the ability to 'pull the plug' if things are going poorly. Most 100 miles races are single loops with support out on the trail at rest areas. Mentally this is very different.
I started the race really slowly. The pre race stats looked like 93 miles with 13,000-15,000 feet of climbing(depending upons whose gps you believed). The first 25 miles were great- pretty views, chilly weather, lots of talking. Miles 25-60 were ok, it got a little lonely out there, but I felt great. the problem was: my GPS had 60 miles and only 6,000 feet of climbing. So the head game starts, "can there really be 7-9 thousand more feet to climb over the last 33 miles????!!!" I tried to eat and drink as much as I could at the 60 mile reat stop. Sometime therafter my stomach decided to shut down(around mile 75). No more food would go down- only plain water and pepsi and endurolytes. I had 75 miles in and still 'only' 9,000 feet of climbing. AGAIN, "can there really be 4-6 thousand feet of vertical to go?!" With my stomach shutting down I knew I had to take it a little easy. I kept a modest pace and never reached that dark, deep, black, scary place that the mind sometimes goes to during these types of events. Mile 85 came and I knew I could crank out whatever was left, so I took a quick break and set off again.
I finished in 11:20 and cracked the top 10 in the 30-39 age group. I had plenty of gas in the tank and felt pretty good. The final elevation change was 12,200 feet and 92.3 miles. It was a true climber course(of which I'm not @ 6 foot 205#'s) and overall a great race.

Gotta know when to fold 'em

Last weekend I did the Kirkwood 9-5#1. It was at the Kirkwood ski area and it was a nearly 7 mile loop with almost 1000 feet of elevation per lap. The elevation was between 8,000 and 9,000 feet and the conditions were awful. It was 46F the whole day with wind gusts over 35mph. My whole theory/strategy was to use the race as an elevation acclitamization tune-up for the Tahoe Sierra 100.

The first 3 laps went off with no problems, except my front brake cable can unattached and ended up in my front tire. It was a quick fix with some twisty ties.

Lap 4&5 started to wear me down. I was riding a hard tail 'cause I broke my race frame(again-the 4th time!) and I could really feel it in my back and upper body. But I didn't worry too much, I knew I'd be sore the next day- but that's part of endurance racing. Then on lap 6 I had some thermoreulatory issues. I could't stay warm! Being from the upper midwest, I'm usually pretty cold tolerant. I put on 2 jackets & drank a cup of hot coffee and went out for a 7th lap.

The endurance racing Gods were angry. A thick cloud cover rolled in and the wind became more constant. At the high point of the course a large 'dirt devil' attacked me.(these look like miniature tornadoes with dirt swirling in a circle) I actually had to stop to not get blown over. After that there was a definate change in mentality. I was in survival mode, not race mode. I limped into the pit area and my wife took one look at me and knew I wasn't well. She remined me of my initial objective of this race and urged me to call it a day. I was a really hard decision. I was in the pit area at 3:10 pm and had time to get 2 more laps in which would make 9. I knew the winner would do 10, but thought 9 would make the podium. I asked my wife what place I was in. She mumbled 4th, knowing that I'd stay in the race and shoot for the podium. I took one look at the sky and wind and said, " you gotta know when to fold 'em. Help me get these wet clothes off."

I finished 8th out of 9 and was fairly pissed off all the way home, but I got some great physical and mental training and am preparing hard for the Tahoe Sirra 100.

8 Hours of Boggs

I've done plenty of 12 hour races and several 6 hour races, but I've never done a 8 hour race. It seems like a petty issue, but all of those races are different physiologically and mentally. Much to my displeasure, the temperature was above 100 on my drive to Boggs on Friday night before the race. I have way too much muscle mass to cool off to feel that heat is any advantage for me. My real advantage was my support crew. I had recently joined the Xtreme Outfitters Race Team (so recently that I didn't even have a jersey), and there were 4 racers[including myself] from the team. We created a pit area and an atmosphere that was condusive to a full day in the saddle. My ace in the hole was my family. Being able to hear 'go Papa go' every lap is the best motivation imaginable. The first lap was filled with too many people going way too fast for an 8 hour race, but of course I got caught up in the testosterone induced flurry an actually flew past a sharp right hander' and went down a fire road 100 meters past the turn before I realized how stupid I was. So after retracing my error, I lost all the positioning that I worked to get in the first 6 miles. But, being a veteran endurance racer, I calmed myself down and at that point settled down into my own pace. It left me in 'no mans land' for several laps, but I knew if I rode my own race that it would pay off. So for the next 5 hours I went at my own pace, drank all I could, packed my jersey pockets in chunks of ice, and nibbled food as my gut allowed. Then I had a decision to make....7 laps or 8? I knew I needed to do 8 laps to walk with hardware, but man it was hot! I also knew that I would have to do 3 sub 1 hour laps back to back to back. Laps #3,4,5 were all 1:05, so I had to seriously re-focus. Lap 6 went well and I was on pace. The temperature started to drop and I was actually feeling better. Lap 7 was a gut check, but when I started to have doubts, I saw my good friend Chad who had been racing all day also. We talked for a few minutes, then Bill from the race team came cooking by. I told him my delimma, and he said, "when do you need to get back to the pit to make lap #8". I replied sheepishly, "13 minutes". His retort was classic. He said, "ok then hold on and I'll get you there". Bill took off like a man possessed. I has able to hold his wheel for about 10 minutes then he was gone. I thought 'man that wasn't too cool', but then when I got back to the pit I realized what he had done. He rallied the pit crew. I had open gels, cliff bars, and ice cold drinks handed to me. After shouts of encouragement and a good push off, I was off. All I could hear over and over was my 6 year old saying, "go get 'em Papa". That was all I needed. I threw down my second fastest lap time of the day and landed on the podium in 3rd place. Endurance racing is a sport that many people will never have the pleasure to experience. And very few people realize that it's a team sport. A special thanks to my fellow racers, pit crew, and family.

Leesville Gap Road Race

Well, it was about what I expected....Hot, terrible road, crazy descents, and lots of little people with skinny shaved leg. I finished 10th place, and I'm OK with that. I've only ridden about 300 miles all year on a road bike. I almost exclusively ride MTB, but thought this would be fun and it was VERY fun. I'll be back again next year with some experience and a few pounds lighter for that 10 mile, 1500 foot climb over the gap.

Leesville gap road race

Saturday July 3rd I'll be doing a road race down in the blazing hot town of Williams, Ca. I usually don't race on the road, but about once a year I try to go mix it up with the skinny tire and skinny leg people.