In the past month or so I haven’t posted a blog about racing or riding; the truth is I was a bit disappointed in my racing and training.
I had high expectations for the Gunnison Growler and found myself really just on a bike ride, with no race in the legs or heart. I ended up finishing with a better time and place than last year, but only by a spot and a minute.
After the disappointment I felt really drained and decided to stick around home to try and recharge the batteries. It’s not like I had been racing or riding too much, I just had not been able to enjoy time at home riding locally and having some chill time off.
The trails in Summit County were finally starting to dry out and the bike path had opened all the way to Vail; this gave some good riding opportunities on my home turf and I was looking forward to it.
With the trails drying out, I was going to have an opportunity to ride my mountain bike locally; something I had not been able to even think about. This was leaving me without good mountain bike training time, which can leave you a little behind in your handling skills and out of touch with comfort and power on your machine. There is nothing like riding your home trails daily after work to get in touch with your machine and yourself.
Over the couple weeks at home I made some changes to the bike, I have been waiting on a new bike and was putting some things off. I finally decided to just get’er done. The big problem is that I have been riding a bike that is too small for me and my saddle height was not optimal; so I made the change and got a longer seat post. What a difference that made! I recommend getting bike fit and riding the right saddle height. The power difference was noticeable!
With all these changes going into the Bailey Hundo, I was not sure how I would feel. Change can sometimes be bad on bike, especially right before a hundred mile bike race.
The night before I met up with my friend Thane to go to the Romer Ranch for some BBQ and check out the ranch. The food was good, but let me tell you and tell Chris Romer, BBQ is not the right pre race meal. Thanks though!
I woke up at 4am with what felt like a log in the stomach, never a good idea when you need to breathe. As we went off hard for the first 6 or so miles of dirt road I could feel that log dragging me down. I kept up the pace and hung with the lead group, although once again off the back a little.
As we entered the single track I was in a comfortable position, my buddy Dax was on my wheel and Mark Thompson right in front of me. These guys bring the best out of each other on their single speeds and I was happy to be riding with them for a short time.
The log was still dragging me down, but I was slowly feeling better and reeling a few riders in on the singletrack. The climbs were feeling decent and the descents were ripping. At about mile 15 or 20, the log seemed to disappear and I was feeling good and catching who ever I could.
One short lapse of concentration found me in the wrong gear and torquing my chain up a short steep uphill; not a good thing in a hundred mile race. The chain was fine but in the process I tweaked something either in the cables or derailleur hanger and now my bike was ghost shifting. I backed the pace down and started trying to find a sweat spot with my barrel adjuster. After finding a reasonable setting I got back into reeling in the competition.
Rolling out of the single track to a double track, I was feeling good and promptly passed 3 or 4 riders. Found Mark Thompson and Dax and kept rolling, hoping they would grab a wheel. As I hit the next singletrack section up the Green Mountain climb, Dax and Mark were there. What a blast crushing some gears with some good friends in the middle of a race. The Green Mountain climb was relentless, but I was feeling great and the legs were feeling awesome. My fueling was going great, using Honey Stinger gels, Kep’s Pollen Balls and Infinit Endurance Formula. My goal this race was to stuff as much food and water down as possible and it was seriously helping me. Every chance I got I was either eating or drinking.
The exception which came back to haunt me was the long descent to the South Platte River. It must have been a half hour or more and this gave me no chance to eat. As I rolled into the aid and grabbed more fuel and water and rolled out to ride the pavement for a few miles, the power was gone. Too much time off without fuel left me in a deficit.
As I rolled the pavement trying to snap out of the deficit I lost a few places to a group that was rolling fast in a pace line that I just could not jump on. Bummer!
The next section up to Cheeseman I was passed by one last person, but also managed to catch a rider or two.
I stopped at the next aid grabbed some more water and ate some Endurolytes. As I rolled through the next section up Stoney Pass I started to feel better. I had noticed a rider had been gaining ground earlier up the steep climb to Cheeseman, but now I was putting time on him and with a couple of look backs I found no one on any of the snaking switchbacks in sight.
This will put a little wind in your sails; seeing it unfold as you put time into your rivals, is pretty nice in racing. It tells you that you are doing something right.
As I came to the top of the last climb of the day and took the right hand turn to head down to Sawmill, I looked at my watch and saw that I had a chance to make my goal of 7 hours and 30 minutes, from there I drilled it to the finish with a time of 7:30.27. Pretty dam close and 13th Overall.
For a frustrating early season, this race gave me some great motivation for the next big races on the calendar.
Thanks to all my help! Honey Stinger, Kep’s Pollen Balls, Infinit, NoTubes, Light and Motion, Breck Velo, Schwalbe and Formula Brakes.
