Last WNR (of July)

I have been overdue for a post and seeing as how WPG wasn't able to join the group, I guess I can fill in the details. Pete arrived hoping to join us for part of the loop but his pre-riding had taken a bit more out of him than expected & he needed his reserves for the spin home...so the group was on the small side with Rob, Matt, Jessilyn & myself in attendance. Jess got some directions & felt confident she knew her route as she was the solo girl rider & didn't want us boys slowing her down. Matt had a different plan in mind for the route with a diversion on a section of single track that Y-bike Dave had shown him. It turned out to be a pretty cool alternative climb that bypasses the "old" logging two-track climb (that Marcus fixed years ago), Pete's Knee, & the Stuffed Lamb & brings you out to cross the two-track just before you cross onto Boyne's property - newly marked by their ridiculous sign-in request signs. We obviously poached the trails & headed on to the South to North Peak run & caught up with Jess at the top of the Loser trail (she's so fast!) & that's where the group split up, Matt had a shorter route in mind so Rob & I headed out to the bridges & then back down to the new climb to try the downhill direction. All in all a good section, a bit overgrown with some biting thorny spots but it's late July & that is the price you pay for beautiful single track. Rob & I decided that Sarge's section would be required to complete our loop & other that a few more scratches on the arms, it is in wonderful shape as well. We even shared the trails with at least 10 other riders, on their own routes but enjoying themselves immensely...even a tandem! Well next week starts a new month so the WNR is at Terpening Station with a bit of hoopla for the 1-year anniversary of my crash. I know Pete & Hugh will be tapering their efforts before Ore to Shore but for those able & willing, Rob & I are planning on arriving early for the Pro-Loop. Until next time, get out & ride!

Whoa!

Had just about the busiest regatta weekend that I can recall. Things went just about as smoothly as can be expected though. We've got a great crew of kids this summer, and that definitely makes a big difference. It seems like most kids these days are lazy and apathetic; but if you look hard enough, you can still find a few good ones in the bunch. I've got one more week of heavy saddle time, and then I'll start tapering off in preparation for the big race coming up on Aug. 9th. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. I'm not sure yet how my new training strategy (more riding/less structure) will work out when it comes to actually racing. But I'm feeling good, and you can just catch a glimpse of Labor Day if you try really hard and squint. Hope everyone had a good weekend. WNR this week 6:15 @ Boyne this week (show up at 3:30 if you want to start with me). Thanks for reading.

Countdown to Regatta

Less than a week to go now before the big regatta weekend. It's probably our second busiest weekend of the year, so it's a good one to get out of the way. Once I get past that weekend, there are only a couple of weeks before Ore to Shore. After that's it's mostly smooth sailing to Labor Day and the end of yet another summer in hell. This summer is my 15th, and I honestly don't know how many more I can handle. I'm not sure that it's possible to understand what it's like without experiencing it, so I won't bore you with all the gory details. Suffice it to say that summer is far and away my least favorite season. At least I've got three other ones that don't suck. On the brighter (cycling) side of life, things are going rather smoothly. I've been getting in a good ten hours a week of saddle time, and I'm looking to up the volume a little now that I'm getting ready to ramp up the racing again. After the Ore to Shore, I'll have about a month to get ready for the 3 day stage race in Canada. I'm really starting to get excited about that. I'm looking at it like three marathon races in a row where you get to camp/hang out with all your fellow racers at the end of each day. Also in bike related news: I put the old LeMond back into working order about a month ago to be my primary commuter vehicle. I've got a rack with panniers (thanks for the loan Hugh) on her, and it's been great using her to cruise around the county. In a little less than a month I've logged just shy of 500 miles that I normally would have driven. I'm super motivated to see what kind of total I can rack up before the snow starts flying this fall. Now if I could just find a good route, I could ski to work this winter..hmmmm..probably not going to happen. WNR this week on the NCT. Meet at the Pleasantview Twp. Hall for a 6:15 departure (Hugh and I will most likely be departing headquarters around 4:30 if anyone's interested in a longer ride). Take care and ride well.

Evolution

When Mike Bodt was in town over the fourth, he was commenting on how much the Loop behind the house had changed since we all took up biking back about 8 or 9 years ago. I like to think of it as more of an evolution though. Over the years the trail has evolved according to training needs and the unending quest for more singletrack. When it all started the trail had very little singletrack and was only about 6 miles of an out and back loop. We all thought we were bad ass for making it up the big climb to the 95 acres without getting off to walk. Now, I ride up that climb at race pace over and over again as one of my favorite interval workouts. Yesterday, I rode what I consider to be the current official Loop. After the initial few miles of singletrack you climb up to the 95 acres and descend down to Five Mile Creek road. From there you use Geary Rd. to get to the back of Pond Hill Farm. After riding the outermost perimeter of the farm, you head over to the creek for all of Sammie's freshly groomed singletrack goodness. From there it's home via the cart path. It's just a hair over 10 miles now, and the flow and mix of trail type is just about perfect. Come on out and ride. This weeks WNR at Larks Lake Rd. NCT trailhead. Hope to see you there.

Quick Update

Just some quick and random thoughts to let you know I'm not dead:

1) New WNR ride time: 6:15 instead of 6:30. This week the ride will be @ Boyne. We're planning on some serious climbing so come prepared.

2) I've been getting a lot of time in on the saddle, and I'm definitely over the bad mojo that plauged my world this spring. I've gotten to be more proactive about the things in my life that I can control, and I've done my best to come to terms with the things that i can't.

3) Try riding a bike somewhere that you would normally drive to. I've taken to riding most places I need to go (work, yoga, doctor appt., haircut, etc.), and I'll tell you what: it's a win, win, win situation all the way around. I feel better mentally when I get where I'm going. You don't have to worry about parking or traffic congestion. You get a little exercise. And most importantly, you save $ on gas. I haven't totally converted, and I still drive one or two days a week to transport clean clothes/dirty laundry and beer/empties between the store and home.

4) I'm coming to truly despise some of the people I have to deal with in the summer months. We have one customer that won't drink Fiji bottled water because it's "wasteful" to have water shipped all that way. This same guy just built a 8,000 square foot summer cottage and travels on a private jet. Do the fu**ing math a**hole.

5) Congratulations to Scott and Catherine (sorry if I misspelled that). They're getting hitched next month. Best wishes from the team.

That's it for now. Over and out.

SBYC

We finally got a nice day for the yacht club yesterday, and quite a few of us showed up to take advantage. The water's still a little chilly, but the sun was out and the temps. were in the upper 60's. We were also able to witness a good number of small, isolated, severe thunderstorms passing through the straits to the north (see first picture below). Dinner last night was grilled chicken breast with couscous and spinach salad. A nice bottle of spanish red rounded out the meal perfectly. Thanks as usual to Madge and John for providing the grill. Got some good rides on tap for this week, and WNR is currently scheduled for Cross Village. Meet at Scott's by 6:30. Hope everybody had a good weekend.



Parting shot before packing up and heading for home.

Updates

WNR was good. Rode the one speed for the first time in a while and that felt really good. Good group, and the trails at Boyne are in really good shape. I've taken to riding my road bike for most traveling these days in an effort to cleanse my system and relieve stress, and it seems to be working. I feel pretty good on the bike, and I haven't touched the car since Monday. I even rode to P-Town this morning before work on the bike path for a yoga class. It's all part of my new and improved training plan: more volume, less structure. So far so good. I'll report back after the weekend.

LBJ 100 DNF

Things have been going downhill for me pretty much since I finished the Cohutta 100 in April. I've had a few good training rides and a good race at Hanson Hills, but overall my training has been sporadic and extremely labored. Work related stress/tension is at an all-time high, and that has finally manifested itself in sporadic, sharp shooting pains in my right shoulder whenever I encounter anything even remotely stressful. At any rate, Saturday it all finally caught up with me, and I had one of the worst days on the bike.....ever. Normally, for some insane reason, I take pleasure in pushing my physical limits way beyond the point of being merely painful. Saturday, I didn't feel good about anything that was happening. My shoulder was flaring up, my knees hurt, my hands were cramping up, and I was having one hell of a time summoning the strength to turn the pedals over. Halfway through the second lap I knew it just wasn't in the cards for me, and I decided I would stop at the end of the lap. Deep down I knew that I probably could have forced myself to finish, but I also knew that I would be digging myself into one very deep hole (the likes of which it would prove hard to get out of). This was the first time I've quit in the middle of something like this, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. But sitting around the pits the rest of the afternoon and witnessing the carnage reassured me that I'd made the right choice. Way stronger riders than myself were forced to abandon as well. I'd have to say the main two culprits (aside from the 100 miles of singletrack and the relentless climbing) were the heat and one particularly nasty 1/4 mile section of standing water and mud bogs varying in depth between 1 and 2 feet. So I ended up as only half a lumberjack, 51 miles in 5 hours and 10 minutes. Rest assured I haven't given up, and I'm already planning out next years strategy in my head. For now, I'm going to take a step back from my serious and strict training regime and attempt to reinvigorate myself. I've got two months to rest up, refocus, and train for the Ore to Shore; and that's exactly what I intend to do.

On a much, much happier note: Hugh had the ride of his life. He absolutely buried himself and walked away with the overall win in the Masters division. He's got the sweet axe trophy to prove it. Awesome job Hugh. With any luck and whole lot of practice I hope to someday be half as strong a rider as you are.

Take care everybody and have a good week. WNR @ Boyne this week.

Lumberjack Prep

I just finished up three days of good final preparatory riding for the Lumberjack this weekend. I got in good solid 1.5 hour road rides on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday morning, I capped it off with a great 3.5 hour epic ride in the woods. Hugh (fresh from France and riding strong) joined Benson, Kurt, Doug, Matt and I for the festivities. We rode the NCT from Kipp Rd. all the way up to Van Rd. where we took a long and hilly dirt route back to my house via the Stutsmanville Tower hill. Total time was 3:33 with 33.87 miles covered and 4,598 ft. of climbing. I felt really good the whole time, and I could have easily gone longer. I guess that's a good thing since I'll have to do about three times that much riding come Saturday. WNR this week will be starting at the dirt road trailhead of the NCT on Stutsmanville Rd. There will be the option of heading south for a hilly ride, or you could head north (with me) for a very flat and relaxing mellow ride. Hope everybody had a good weekend. Over and out.

Hanson Hills

Got up early Sunday morning and headed south to Grayling for the Hanson Hills Cross Country Race. The weather and my enthusiasm for training were downright horrible in the week leading up to the race. Saturday afternoon was 47 degrees and raining. It was so crappy out that I did my tune-up ride on the trainer in front of the TV. I just couldn't wrap my head around putting on tights, booties, and a rain jacket just to do an an easy hour spin with a few sprints thrown in. The last fu**ing day in May, and riding indoors on the trainer actually makes sense. The forecast for race day was actually quite favorable. And the weather forecasters were right on the money this time. Blue skies and temps. in the low fifties greeted us at the venue around 8:30 yesterday morning. That left me plenty of time to get registered and do a nice long warm up on the road. We had pulled in next to Will Baker so the two of us headed out on the road for our warm up around 8:50. Did a nice hour on the road with a few hard efforts thrown in to open up the legs. Those hard efforts in the warm up always come in handy when the gun goes off and your heart rate goes from resting to redline in about 30 seconds. I got a pretty good start (see video below) and hit the first big climb in the middle of the pack.


Lap 1: 10.5 miles in 49:53. Avg. h.r. 171
Felt as good as can be expected in the first lap. I was able to maintain my place in the group and just basically followed the same wheel. There was a really big climb right at the end of the lap. I got passed by a couple of riders right at the top of said climb, and I don't believe I ever saw them again. I rolled through the start/finish area and got a fresh bottle and gu hand up from Sarah. Thanks wife.

Lap 2: 10.5 miles in 52:37. Avg. h.r. 167
Definitely felt myself slow down a tad on this lap. I think part of it was the fact that I rode alone for most of the lap. It's hard to maintain that super fast race pace when there aren't any other racers around. Still, I was only a few minutes off the first lap pace when Sarah handed me a fresh bottle for the final lap.

Lap 3: 10.5 miles in 51:45. Avg. h.r. 168
I was definitely able to step it up a little bit in the last lap. That was due in large part to hooking up with a good group of two riders about halfway through the lap. They went around me, and I was feeling good (well, at least I didn't feel like I was going to throw up) so I decided to stick with them. We rode together for a little while, and then the dude right in front of me made a move to pass the other rider. I decided to join him, and we immediately dropped the other guy. The guy made another pass right before the final climb, and I almost let him go. That was until I heard the voice of a female racer behind me asking to get around somebody. Normally, the first 2 or 3 pro/elite women pass me about halfway through the third lap. I made up my mind then and there that it wasn't going to happen this year. I knew I didn't have far to go, so I dug as deep as I could and got to the bottom of the last climb with nobody in sight behind me. The guy that I'd been riding with earlier was about halfway up the climb. I decided I'd try to reel him in, and by the time I got to the top he was only 10 or 15 seconds ahead of me. The finish was a long off camber downhill along the front of the ski. He thought he was alone, and I was able to surprise him with a last minute sprint to the line. I ran into him later in the parking lot, and we got to chatting. It turns out he (Dave) and his brother (Greg) are the Hintz brothers that are friends with Hugh. I've seen that at different races throughout the years and it was nice to finally meet them.

So that's a rap. I think I finished 11th out of 15. Considering how crappy I felt all week I think things went pretty well. I maintained a good consistent redline pace without blowing up or cramping. And I didn't get chicked. Sarah drove me over to Bellaire after for a beer at Short's and couple of growlers to go. All in all, a very good Sunday.