9/29/08

Today I re-did my heart rate test to figure out my zones, and found out that I had been running the generic 220-age max heart rate since I got the Garmin. Which was wrong. My lactate heartrate was off, and that threw off the hr zones. Did 20 minute timetrial up the Laurel Run road (it's the climb after the 3 Bridges trail in the W101). I ran out of room so I continued up to the very top by taking another road to the fire tower. Almost made it there, about 1/4 mile left. Rode back down and joined my dad and several others for the Bicycle Shop Tuesday group ride. We descended into this rockey hollow, climbed to the ridge on the other side, and descended an extremely steep, technical trail into the darkness. Really would have liked the Rush on that one. Big 2 foot drops on an already steep and rocky trail made the Taurine feel like such a steeply designed bike. The 70 degree headtube angle is fine and turns fast, but the front wheel is almost directly under the frame. 69 degrees for the Rush and full suspension would have made the trail much safer. It still was fun and I'm looking forward to riding the trail again. This time with the Rush and some kind of daylight.

Bear Creek Final

I'll just start off by saying that the XC race was probably my best preformance all year, and that the Super D was super fun. On Saturday, we got to the mountain just in time for me to get registered and go and pre-ride the Super D course. While I was riding up the course, I could tell that it would end up being a good race. I got to the top and went a moderatly fast speed back down because it's easier to find the best lines that way. A quick adjustment of the pedals and I rode back up to the top. Watched racers start for about an hour until it was time for me to go. I was the second to last person on course. Some spots got better but others just got torn up. The race started off with a kinda rocky section. Not too bad but it really beat some people up. Then onto a loose access road and off a jump into some twisty singletrack. Across another road and more twists to a big steep chute. Gradual uphill to a switchback, under a tree, and a sharp but fast turn into some more rocks. Jump across a bridge and some more tight turns until it opened up for the finish. I made the mistake of trying to shift out of my big chainring, and double shifted making my chain skim off the rings. Despite that problem, my run went really smooth. I finished 12th overall with a time of 6:06. About a minute behind Harlan and 20 seconds behind Brandon.vThe next day was the XC final and it went great. Cameron and Caleb had a big lead through the back of the resort and up to the singletrack. On that first steep climb, I passed Caleb and closed the gap on Cameron. I stayed behind him up the first climb, and passed when we got to the rocks. I felt that it was a good attempt to get away, because I couldn't hear him or see him at the turns. But while trying to pass around a turn, I went too far to the outside and my front tire found a small shrub. Straight over the bars and onto my face. Cameron passed but I caught up to him soon enough. I followed Cameron all the way until the first climb on the second lap, where he gradually got out of my sight. I'd still see him at the end of some rocks, but he wasn't close enough to get back to him. He finished with a high 1:33.40something and I finished with a 1:35.0something. My best preformance all year. I did beat him at Granogue but I felt like I raced better today. Gunnar came in about 9 minutes back. He had pink eye or something and he wasn't feeling too good. It was a really fun weekend and a great way to end the season.

A lot of people kept telling me that I would come back much stronger from my injury. When I was in the sling, I didn't really believe them. Laurel Classic was a good race but I didn't know exactly if I was stronger than before. I knew something was wrong at Teaberry because, looking at the results now, I realize that it was a very bad race. This weekend, I can now see that what everyone said was true. I was able to respond to almost every attack that Cameron tried, and although I wasn't able to, I know how to beat him. Simple race strategy that I won't tell anyone over the internet.

Go Ahead Dearie...It will Make You go Faster

Last Sunday was the Terror of Teaberry. Most of you who weren't there would probably think it couldn't top last year's crazy event. Most of you that weren't afraid to come back would agree that the course killed last years. What it lacked in distance (yes, it actually was 25), it made up for in some of the hardest conditions I've ever raced in. Rain the day before, 90 degree heat, loamy and wet trails, and fresh cut disasters made it incredibly long. Last year it took me 4:08 to complete the 33 mile course, in perfect conditions. This year's time was 3:50.

the back of the t-shirt

After the race, Harlan let my dad borrow one of his sets of Industry-9 wheels. He'll get to ride Harlan's "heavy" set, which were the ones that won Teaberry, until Bear Creek. Thanks Harlan.

I fell while trying to pass Cameron in the beginning of the race, but soon caught him again. I stayed with him for about 15 miles, but couldn't close any kind of a gap. Cameron has been training specifically for this event, getting in lots of 30 mile rides. I have not, and my endurance is way way down since the injury. No biggy though. 2nd place. I came through the 12 mile loop a little over 1:10, which was a pretty solid time. The back 13 took me 2:40, and I was still passing people. If you can remember the 3 Stooges trail from last year (the technical, steep downhill), you'd remember that it was wet on a dry day. This year was crazy. Roots criss crossed the trail as well as huge slippery boulders. Possibly the most technical trail+conditions I've ever raced on. Not to bad, I actually thought it was more fun like this, but it was a little to technical for most. The 3 others that I was with were walking down it. I rode that last 8-9 miles without water, and a stupid mistake. At the aid station with 6 more to go, I drank some water, but completely ignored the nice, orange, water cooler. I was suffering from dehydration, feeling dizzy and sick at the end, AND COULDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO DRINK THE ICY COLD WATER.
Next race is the Bear Creek Super-D and XC race. Should be a fun close to the season of racing

Because of this thing where no company can order any spare parts/bikes (Gunner knows what I'm talking about), we had 2 pairs of shoes that can't get fixed. The one pair were the red S-works Specialized shoes that my dad gave me. I wore them at the end of last year and this spring until I broke the boa a week before the relay. $10 gets you a replacement kit, but since Specialized can't get any, we're getting store credit. Same with my dad's other S-works shoes. He switched over to Sidi so we got more store credit. With my dad's shoes, we were able to trade them for a pair of new S-works in a 43. And today I got to try them out. They fit your foot like a slipper, and I found some old Shimano insoles to put in them cause I have weird feet. Hopefully they hold up nicely and don't break. Specialized puts all their money into weight savings, while companies like Sidi offer every replacement part you could think of, including spare treads for when you wear out yours. They're heavier, but unless you rip them, they will last a lifetime. There's a really slippery bridge when you're entering the forest, and on our way back to the house, we passed a car that had flipped over. There's been a lot of accidents on this bridge, but I'd never seen any of them. The car slipped off the road and drove up onto a bank, where it flipped over sideways back onto the road. The driver was alright, thankfully.

The Dog

So my mind was pretty set on just riding the beginner course at Laurel with my mom. Until last night at 8:00 when I figured that I was healthy enough to race. We drove up and I got ready as usual, but when I was about to start warming up, my dad rode by and told me that Gunnar had just pulled into the parking lot. Big suprize. So it ended up being Gunnar, Julian, and me at the start.

At the last second, I kinda dozed off and the gun sounded, catching me by suprize. Before I knew it, everyone was around the turn and I was weaving in and out of riders to catch up. I rode with Gunnar and Julian until the first steep uphill section, where I pulled away. 29ers go fast on fireroads, so I wanted to give myself a little advantage. It worked out pretty good and I had a big lead on both of them, until it started getting flat again. Every flat spot, Julian got closer, until he finally passed me. The same with Gunnar, and I got behind his wheel going into the singletrack. It continued very steep uphill for a while, where I rode behind Gunnar and got a little rest. Once we got to the top, I shifted first into the middle, then worked through the cassete until I was in the biggest chainring. I didn't look back, thinking I would be dissapointed with what I would see. "The Dog" is the name given to the big chainring by Craig Gordon, the 2006 24 hour solo world champion. I ended up using that ring a lot of the race. So anyway, I was flying on this gradual downhill section and before I knew it, the trail dropped off the side of the mountain onto the Stinger trail. It's so steep that once you start down it, you're not slowing down. I started down it too fast and ended up passing 3 people. At the bottom, you flew out onto a fire road, and I looked back. Still no Gunnar, but Julian was just ahead. Seriously, this is the exact same thing that happened to me last year with Gunnar. I rode hard, but Julian just rode faster and had dropped me by the time we got to the Dear trail, the second technical descent. Bombed down that and across the road.

After the road, there is a little ditch where a spring crosses the trail. I don't know how big it is, but it's deep and not many people try to jump across it. By the time I saw it, it was too late and I knew that I had to try and clear it. As I was in the air, I looked down and saw this awful knob on the other side. I was just hoping to clear it, and I did. Barely. Through a few streams and you're off to the 3rd big climb of the race. Again, I had closed the gap on Julian, but couldn't catch him. Just kept pulling away from me. On the last downhill, my Garmin registered at 31.2 mph. It's fast, but only if you're really pinning it. I crossed the finish 2nd overall, less than a minute behind Julian. Julian got a time of 1:52, I had a 1:53, and I'm not sure what Gunnar's time was but I'm sure that he broke 2 hours. It was a fun race, and I like the course conditions - slippery and foggy and wet and muddy.

Oh and I also have my first week of school behind me...

btw Gunnar, that Hammer gel flask that you saw without the top, it was mine. we figured that out when all I had left in my pocket was the cap ;-p

Bear Creek Pre-Ride

Last weekend, my dad and I drove down to Bear Creek to pre ride the course. We did 2 laps Saturday night and 3 laps on Sunday. The hotel is really nice and so is the course. I got most of the lines down and I felt that each lap was smoother and more flowing than the last. Should be a fun race.