MNMBS #2

The MNMBS race at Mt Kato, Mankato, is always hot...sometimes muddy, but always hot. More on that later.

Leading up to the 2nd MNMBS I did the Thrus Night Buck race. The Penn team pulled of the amazing feat of a last minute reroute around a new 8 foot irrigation ditch that appeared on the hill that day. The race was short at only 40 min but still had 1000 feet of climbing in that period...OUCH!

Saturday was a warm day and I kind of forgot to take it easy. Between washing cars, chasing kids, laying sod, taking Tegan mountain biking (yeah, on 2 wheels=), and a brief 40 min spin alone, I was anything but rested for the impending warmest race (heck, even ride) of the year by far the next day. Oh well, so it goes.
Tegan's first 2 wheeled mountain biking ...we hit up Murphy Hanrehan on Saturday

Sunday I felt lethargic going down to Kato, but once I started pedaling I could tell that I didn't totally waste myself the previous day. The warm weather suits me and my legs always feel better. It was just about 90 Sunday in Mankato, so there was plenty of suffering to go around. I just put my head down at the start and set a high tempo. The start was the least painful one this season, and I kept it below my threshold but was still able to gap the field. Kato is a near perfect race course with a long ski hill starting climb to sort things out followed by fast singletrack, twisty singletrack, switch backs, a couple places to launch, and some gnarly rooty chutes. I kept on it for 4 out of 5 laps growing my lead the whole time. I sat up a bit on the last lap, as cramps started to ping. Overall, I was pleased with my fitness, which seems to be coming along but more pleased that I had limited cramping in the hot weather. Usually the first hot weather race puts me in the hurt bucket more than this one did.
Its a race AND I get to launch a little? How can I pass that up? Sweet!
Still not down=) I am no downhiller so this is plenty of air time for me.

With over 400 racers (lots of them staying for much of the afternoon), families, friends, food, and a beautiful day, we couldn't have asked for a better race and venue. Saying we were due for weather like this, well, that is stating the obvious=)
The only time I spend without at least one of my 2 shadows is on the bike or after 8:30 pm....I like that though=)

Equipment note: I continue to be blown away by the XR0 Bonti tires for hard pack racing (race day only tire and not good for sharp rocks or mud/wet). Looking at them, they simply should NOT grip like they do, but they are like Velcro! I was really able to lay the bike over on Sunday w/o loosing grip. I wish I would have converted to these sooner...

All these pics are just screenshots from Dana's gallery. She does an amazing job photographing the MNMBS!

2 bucks

While I wussed out on the first Buck Hill, I have made it to the last couple and they have been just the kick the calves that I needed.

The most exciting news happened at the second one and it had nothing to do with me. I took the pedals off a larger bike we had so Tegan could use it as a big "Strider" bike per some advice from Tyson. I was getting ready to leave for the race and Tegan demanded that I put pedals back on, so I did. Then to my surprise he started cruising down the hill in our front yard while pedaling. To that point, he had abosolutely refused to try, and I didn't want to push him. Well, by the time I saw him after the Buck race that night, he was cruising around the parking lot on his own 2 wheels! He proceeded (with a little help) to race on 2 wheels that night. From there, he has progressed right into base training putting in nearly 2 hour yesterday=)

The first buck hill saw me dropping a chain on the first lap. After a 45-60 second repair the chase was on. Luckily, I already had a gap when it happened. I chased down Jesse, who is riding strong, with a lot of effort and attacked on the final lap for the win. The second race saw nearly 250 competitors, 6? waves of kid racers and 100+ in the advanced mens race alone! There can't be too many other weekday series in the nation that attract numbers like that. Awesome! With some new faces out there I put it in a fairly hard effort from the gun. My "start" fitness is not there yet but it is coming along and that is why I do these races. I always say it, but the Buck hill races, given that they are only ~50 min, are about as painful as racing gets. Because I use it as my mid-week-stay-fit session, I go hard the whole time independent of where I am in the race (unless there is a double race or something the following weekend).

I have to say thanks to Trek and Tyson/Freewheel for getting me rolling after the Salem Hills race in time for Buck this week. Needless to say, the moving parts of the bike needed some love! If you haven't been to the new store in Eden Prairie, stop by some time. The staff is super friendly and some of the most knowledgeable bike shope mountain biking crew around.

I have made some recent equipment mods and will type about them in the coming weeks. The race bike is very nearly dialed....

Few Words...

Pictures best describe MNMBS#1. Thanks to all the volunteers that had the attitude, "the show must go on!" Without you guys and girls there wouldn't be a race series.


The top derr pulley seized though, although I didn't know it until I was cleaning my bike after. I am guessing it happend in lap 3 because that is when my shifting went bonkers. I kept pedaling, it is not like I had a choice, and the chain wore the pulley to the metal. I wonder how many watts I wasted grinding this sucker?

Summary: I raced hard the whole time because you never know what is going to happen (mechanical failure, crash, etc) in conditions like this. With fitness coming along and me finally starting to figure out this mud thing, I was able to gain a nearly 9 min margin for the win. The only equipment note I will make is that the Bonti Mud X 2.0 tires were amazing. Again, I don't just write this because I am supposed to. The proof is in the pudding: I came across the line w/ completely clean tread, i.e. they didn't pack up at all during the race giving me maximum traction the whole time.

Next will be Buck followed by a weekend of some fun along w/ Honey-Do's.

Trek Demo's

FYI, the Trek Demo truck will be out at Lebanon this Saturday and Murphy this Sunday. Come out and ride some of the best bikes around. I will be out there Sunday along w/ some other Trek teammates. I plan to go out on some small group rides if there is interest from anyone (including kids!).
http://www.trekfactorydemo.com/region.php?region_id=3

Burrrrrrr

I did the Cable Off Road Classic despite the conditions being far from optimal for me...39 degrees, 20-30 mph winds (mostly tail but still cold), and sprinkling. Usually in cool to cold (<55 degrees) weather, I am about 5% slower at the high end intensity for whatever reason (base on loops I know and ride a lot). This probably has some physiological component and some mental component, but either way my plan was to finish and not give up. At the starting line, I was in a full length base layer, long sleeve jersey, and wind vest. Scott KJ pulls up in just bibs and a long sleeve say, "Man this weather is PERFECT" (he is from Duluth, which explains everything=). The course is super fun, but rain all night left hub deep puddles that soaked and chilled me to the bone. However, there was relatively little mud, and the singletrack rode well because it is kind of a softer loamy soil.

I never felt good in the race and my legs were just plain cold. My feet were frozen to the point of being completely numb with 10 miles to go. The only time I got them to semi-warm was in the single track, which w/ 6 miles to go I made a decisive move for the win. There is an interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cnlvg3iCLE
It was pretty cool to have a podium sweep for the Trek Coop on the Mens side with Todd Mcfadden and Scott rounding things out. Those guys thrive in tough conditions. Sara, Scott's wife who is also on the team, rocked the win on the womens side and was 16th overall! Diana Mcfadden, another teammate and Todd's wife, followed for second. Maybe better yet, both podiums were 100% flush w/ Daddy's and Mommy's (who were all lucky enough to find baby sitters and get a weekend away=).

I should note that Charly Tri hosted 4 of us at his cabin, which is a real treat. His cabin is "where VHS tapes go to die", so idle time was filled with watching awesome old movies...Empire Strikes Back, National Lampoons Euro and Orginal Vaca, Something about Mary, Big Labowski, etc. Then on Sunday Charly led us on a fun tour of the Namakagon and Rock Lake loops.

On the equipment side, the Bontrager rubber ROCKED! I know there were other good tire choices for the day out there, but I can tell you that the mud X front and XR3 rear allowed me to ride without slipping around on the wet rocks and roots. That said, Scott was on XR0's and other than the really slick corners, they worked pretty darn well...I was very surprise and pleased because I will be racing on those in better conditions.
Charly Tri, the architect of the weekends activities trying to stay warm through the finish.

I was so cold I forgot to raise my hands.
Jay Richards (who took ALL these pic) looked at me funny so I put them up
Jack Richards kept my coat warm for me during the race. Here his is showing off some of the much appreciated new singletrack bridges from Camba.
The Trek sweep just trying to stay warm at the finish

Skinnyski has many more pictures. Oh, and Jay not only took pics, but did my bottle handoff. Thanks Jay and Jack for the help!

BTW, I did skip Buck Hill this week. I would have had to ditch Jen and the kids for the night to do it, because there was little interest from them in going given the cold and wet (yes surpise for this spring) conditions. With me being gone for the weekend in Cable, that was not in the cards. Jen will support me in what ever I want to do, but preventing those little sad faces that happen when I leave is WAAAAY more important to me than bike racing.

Next will be Buck Hill this week assuming the weather is nice. Then Sat is the first Minnesota Series race.

Marathon number 1

I competed in my first Marathon this past weekend... a marathon cross country bike event. It was the Minnesota State Marathon championship called the Sandwich 50. Skinnyski will have my race report in Jay's mountain bike recap. I managed the win and results with pictures should be posted at the Sandwich 50 link above. Suffice it to say that I felt ok, not great at the top end but strong the whole race. I don't expect the top end to be all there yet, so I am not worried at all.
Equipment wise, I can't say enough about the new Trek Top Fuel, not because I am supposed to but because it is genuinely awesome. I rode tight, sprinty, bumpy, rooty singletrack at a reasonably hard pace for nearly 4 hours w/ no muscle pain or soreness in my back or upper body.

The rest of the weekend (the race was Sat morning) was spent at my parents estate just west of Rochester. We had a blast shooting BB guns, riding in trailers, riding bikes, having a camp fire, etc.
It was my job to aim and Tegan's job to shoot
Casey has a bit of a fat lip right now, but she is one tough little girl! Case and point, she skinned her knee, didn't make a peep until mom picked her up to inspect it. She screamed because mom was taking away from the big wheel she was attempting to ride.Next up are the first Buck Hill Thurs Night Race and the Cable Classic on Saturday.

Installation

INSTALLING SPRING...
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Quickie

Sorry for the lack up updates, but life is busy and spending any time at night on the computer hasn't been a priority. Here is a quick update:

• Tegan is convinced he needs training wheels. I am trying to convince him he doesn't, but I am letting him decide.
• Casey got a new pink helmet and likes to ride (whatever she can swing a leg over) more than Tegan did at 14 months.
• The weather here in MN? Well lets just say it is the worst spring I remember in a long time. Looks like another 7 days before we get close to AVERAGE temps. Oh, and more white stuff on the way. It is tough for me to take.
• Riding is going well. I actually went cross eyed (couldn't focus my eyes I was so blown) on some rides. I mostly ride alone and can push myself better that way. Fisher, SamO, and I hit Mammoth yesterday, and it was awesome!
• The bikes: I absolutely love the Remedy and am HOPING to get the race bike out on the trails before I have to race it (see the weather note on that one). The remedy has 2000g wheels and big fat tires, so I definitely have to smash the pedals to keep up w/ Fisher and SamO
• Racing: my first one will probably be the Sandwich 50 endurance race. I am still debating on Decorah...trying to justify drive time vs race time on that one.
  
• Top level racing: Jack is kicking butt this year...not surprising and great to see. Hopefully there aren't too many more courses that allow this (not that it affects me but it would be a bummer for the racers' sakes): http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/04/photo-gallery/sea-otter-11-mens-xc_15187/attachment/img_2372

Cheers.

Stable

Here are some updates on my bike stable for the year:
Top Fuel 9.9ssl - mostly stock with a 1x10 conversion using an MRP chain keeper. 20.5 to 21 pounds depending on exact setup. I will either be running XR0 front and rear or XR1 front XR0 rear for dry conditions, XR3s for semi-adverse conditions, and mud x's in the nasty stuff.
Remedy 9.7 - partly stock. I put an XX groupo and some Bonti carbon goodies I had on it. I am running 1 x 10 with a direct mount MRP chain keeper. I plan to run only XR3's or XR2's on this bike. It will probably be my ride in muddy races too (with mud x's). Why? Well, because it is only 24.8 pounds and it is quite capable of racing. Yes 6" of front and rear travel < 25 pounds. I can see why this bike has been called the quiver killer!
In other news, I am heading out to Longmont, CO for work next week. I have 3 packed days of work planned at our design center out there but won't miss an opportunity to test the Remedy. My brother Ben, who is about the only one who can make me feel like I have to vomit during a training ride, lives in Boulder so I will be staying with him. After the work is done, we plan to head west for a long weekend in Fruita and Moab.

Ivan Drago

I often get asked 1) how I train or 2) how someone else should train. I can answer the first question, but I am certainly not qualified to answer the second (there are plenty of good coaches who can).

If you are familiar w/ Rocky 4 (one of the best movies ever BTW) then you know how great the contrast is between how Rocky and Ivan Drago trained for the fight.

So, where am I going with this? Well, I am going to answer the first question.

Technology and time: I train with very little technology and a pretty flexible plan. I simply don't have the time (if I want to be successful at my most important job of being a daddy and husband) to be gone a whole day training or even travel south to train or race like some of my competition. I have a heart rate monitor but haven't worn it in 3 years, have never worn it outside, and only ever used it on the trainer a few times. I don't have a power meter or even a computer on any of my bikes.

My science: What I do do is keep track of my activities in a little notebook. I write down the duration of each ride and rate each ride on a perceived exertion scale. I may also include a note or two about how I felt during and even after the ride. This allows me to look back and see what does and does not work for ME.

The off season: In the off season and even through the spring, I play a lot of hockey, run/showshoe a little, and joy ride. When the snow flies, I ride a bike with 7 extra pound of wheel weight...no power meter necessary.

Leading up to the season: The only structure I have all year is around rest periods from Feb until racing starts. I do this to assure that I stay fresh and get stronger. I typically do a weekend +2 weeks "on" (ride more and ride harder) and then take the 5 following week days off. Weekends are precious and this maximizes riding while minimizing the impact to my family and job. BTW, I am in this phase now.

The season: In the race season, I race a lot and recover. Period. Recovery is sometimes spent at the playground, most of the time commuting, and when I am lucky on the trail with friends.

What got me thinking about doing a post on how I train was a great blog entry linked below that the fastest current North American endurance racer, Jeff Schalk, who happens to ride on the Trek Coop team too. I love Eddy Merckx's quote=)http://trekmountain.typepad.com/king/trek-racing-co-op/

Summary: I choose Rocky's method. Now, if I could only be as tough as him.

Coming soon will be quiver details....hint: 6" of travel and 25 lbs.