25th Annual Massanutten Hoo Ha

What a historic race celebrating its 25^th year of existence.  I have wanted to do this race for a couple years now and it just never worked out.  Finally, this season the XXC fit right into my training plan.  I have never ridden any of these trails so was curious about what was in store for me.

The morning started early with a 4:15am alarm.  Before long I was out of the house and on the road to meet Donna Miller to carpool from Richmond to Massanutten for the race start.  With the forecasted rain on Saturday night, I was glad we had opted not to camp the night before.  We arrived in plenty of time so everything worked out well.  We got registered and found a small group to warm up with and check out some of the trails and see what this week’s rains had done to the course.  They were damp, with some mud on the fire roads.  Unfortunately, I noticed some major tension in my headset, not a good sign of things to come!  I raced back to the car to try and alleviate the tension before the race start, but had no luck.

Before long we were all lined up and the race was off.  The lead group quickly settled and I found myself in the lead group of 10 or so.  I felt good through the opening fire road sections but realized my headset would be a big issue.  I was swerving from side to side as I fought to keep the bike straight.  Not good with all the rocky climbs and descents I knew laid ahead of me.  After the first 30 minutes or so, I think we really started to get into the meat of the course.  Stupid steep climbs would be the norm for the day.  I was disappointed to find so many hike a bike sections.  I know I’m not the strongest person out there and I’m sure others could climb some sections I was forced to walk, but having an XXC course where dismounting and walking is the norm just isn’t very fun for anybody. 

The rock gardens did not disappoint.  They were plentiful to say the least and the rain had left many of these rocks a bit slick.  It was extremely challenging for me when combined with the tension of my front end (which only got worse during the race).  I was really fighting my bike now and often found myself walking rock gardens which I would have normally blown through, very frustrating feeling to say the least.   I wrecked a few times and went over the bars on the ridge line, far from my normal riding style.  One bright point was the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs.  These tires rocked in the poor conditions we faced!  I’m glad I decided to switch to these tires this week.

After we finished the GW loop and returned to the park and at about three hours into the race for me, we joined back into the XC course.  The conditions were far tamer here, but I decided it just wasn’t safe for me to continue.  While reflecting a day later, I’m glad I made this decision.  Your bike really has to be working 100% correctly in order to complete one of these events, and I felt mine was dangerous with the lacking control in the front end.  So for me the race was really just a good workout with some nice climbs plus some good technical riding which are often times hard to find.  All in all, a decent training day out in the mountains but I can say I have no interest in returning to this race after the stupid long hike a bike sections.

Teamates Tom Haines and Todd Green both hung on to finish the course.  Congrats guys, you both rock!

Mohican 100 Mile MTB Race in Loudonville Ohio – June 1, 2013

I’ll spare you all the details, but it would suffice to say that Jeff and I both faced some big obstacles before we even mounted our bikes for this race!  I had to deal with inexperience riding wet trails, and some nagging knee issues that would hound me all day.  Jeff had to deal with lack of sleep caused by a rough night with a migraine and stomach issues.  Come game time though, we had a lot to be happy for – the glory of a meal appropriate to precede such an endeavor, suddenly improved weather, and a well-marked and well-supported ride through cavernous forests and beautiful rolling farm land!  So, we both sucked it up, and hit the paved start with hundreds of other stupids riding either a 100-mile or 100-kilometer race depending on their preference.  Folks in both races, and of all levels of competence, went off with no particular structure – which was very chaotic!  Avoiding the numerous crashes in the first mile was yet another thing I could consider going well for me that morning.

The field spread out pretty quickly on a steep road climb before the course eventually delivered us to the 25 miles of trail riding that would come next.  My position was good heading into the trails, but I was riding very tentatively on the wet singletrack.  Content with keeping myself from, “eating crap,” I gave up a lot of position over these 25 miles.  Jeff passed me at about mile 7 and would never be seen again.  At the end of the 25 miles, the trail alternated for a while between soupy horse trail and muddy hiking trail before turning us out onto the remainder of the course – about 70 miles of a mix of scenic road, gravel, doubletrack and singletrack.  At this point, I was pretty tense from a lot of cautious riding, and a little disgruntled by a number of sections that were not ride-able or generally ridiculous to be routed through.  My knee was really irritating me, I was on track to take 11+ hours (way too long) to finish, and I started seriously considering either quitting or taking the fork around mile 45 where the 100-kilometer race separates from the 100-mile race.

Once I was out of the first trail section, my pace and overall vibe rapidly improved, and I found myself re-gaining position as quickly as I lost it in the first quarter of the race.  I figured then that I probably wouldn’t quit altogether, but I still considered sparing my knee anything more than 100 kilometers of riding.

About mile 45, I approached the fork that separated the two races.  In a couple seconds of thought, I found it just as easy to opt for 100 miles as it would have been to opt for 100 kilometers.  I am really happy I made that choice since the rest of the course wasn’t terribly taxing at all.  I continued to improve my pace, and was motivated by the scenery, the weather, and the prospect of a sub-9-hour finish.  The course sent me over at least one narrow suspension bridge, a covered road bridge complete with horse-drawn buggy inside, and past numerous spectators and farm folk doing their thing – including one teenage Amish girl operating a gas powered weed whacker!

The last five miles navigated backward through some of the first singletrack in the course.  Conditions at this point were ideal, but I was too smoked to bomb through.  Although I slowed down at that point, I still finished 26^th with a time under 9 hours.  I was delighted to see that Jeff also chose to persist through the race, and had finished about 15 minutes before me with a 20^th place position!  In 16 100-milers, this was Jeff’s fastest.  We spent a while enjoying the post-race festivities before filling our growlers and heading back to our hotel in great spirits.

The next day, we woke up stiff and sore, and drove home in spotty weather.  Fortunately, rain had not hit the area around Douthat State Park in Virginia – which allowed us to take our creaky bikes for a not-too-hard and not-too-easy spin up and down some great trails in that park.  Bonus for me, since I had never rode there and had a blast rocking down some fast descents to make up for holding back so much the day before!  As we got back on the road, we felt refreshed by our ride.  Rain soon resumed, and we reflected on how much we ultimately lucked out over this weekend.

Great times!

Design Physics Dons Road Wheels and Takes Wintergreen!

Four teammates from Design Physics did the Wintergreen Hill Climb State Championships May 4th; myself (racing for River City Women’s Racing for road), Tom Richeson (racing for Virginia Beach Velo for road), Frank Yeager, and Joe Fish.  All four placed in the state!!

I don’t know why they call it the Hill Climb State Championships, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind who has ridden it that climbing Wintergreen is climbing a mountain.  It’s rated a cat 1 climb, 6.7 miles, with parts of the climb a 14% leg-burning gradient (some argue more).

Results:

Tom Richeson:  2^nd 45-54, 38:36.884; Silver medal
Frank Yeager:  2^nd cat 4, 38:42.216; Silver medal
Joe Fish:  1st cat 5, 38:09.685; (technically they don’t give out medals for men’s cat 5, however he is still a champion!)
Sonya Richeson:  2^nd cat 3, 54:18.146; Silver medal

Our team manager Jason was also there, supporting his daughter Mason Hopkins who was racing for Tradewinds Racing, she also got a medal; gold, 1^st junior age 10-14.

 (Notice that Joe is smiling, I think that means he didn't work hard enough.)

2013 Cohutta 100 - addendum to Jeff's post

I'll skip a full-on blog post, but will add a few notable items to Jeff's summary:

• Lack of smiles in Jeff's photos make more sense in light of the following quote uttered about the time those photos were taken: "I want to ride fast so this will be over as soon as possible."  I don't remember which of us said that, but I'm pretty sure we were both on exactly the same page.
• Until about mile 35, I was thinking, "I feel great and everything is going awesome!  I may make a sweet time on this!"  At about that time, I noticed my fork was flat and my thinking turned into, "I wonder if it's safe to finish on this fork."  I ended up riding through with an extra degree of caution on a rigid (and short) fork.  You might think this would bother me - but only a few guys go to these races with realistic aspirations of crazy fast times.  The healthy outlook for everyone else is, "I'll get through this the best/fastest I can given whatever crazy crap that luck (will) throw at me."  Finishing is a demonstration of character in which you happen to be riding a bicycle.  And so I am settled with how this worked out.
• There were exactly 180 pre-registered for open men, and exactly 90 finish times recorded for this field.  No idea how the other 90 break out between DNS and DNF.   I finished 28th in 10:14.
• I thought it was great to get a sweet pre-ride the day before where Jeff and I saw the best single track on the course in fantastic sunny weather.  The views were very different on race day, but as Jeff mentioned, beautiful nonetheless.
• One of the things I love about riding a lot is eating huge amounts of great food.  The places we ate in Asheville, NC and in Blue Ridge, GA definitely did not disappoint!
• When I got home, I got unpacked and cleaned up everything except the rock I took off my roof.  I am pretty sure there is a fossilized bike inside.  I am not looking forward to chipping it out and assessing damage!
• I can't wait for Mohican in June!

2013 Cohutta 100

Frank and I ate breakfast and downed coffee as we looked out the window at pouring rain about 5:30am on race day. I sure was glad to be in a hotel and not camping.

There was an impressive display of innovation as Frank birthed himself through the bottom of a trash bag that would serve as his rain vest under his jersey. I noticed his keen use of the drawstrings as a waist belt for the improvised rain vest.

The rain poured steadily as we loaded the bikes up and seemed to wash away any hope that the day would be better than forecasted.

We got geared up and ready to roll with all the other racers that decided to toe the line despite the grim conditions. Sure, it was 50 and light rain, but up on those mountain gravel roads, the temps would be closer to 40 with rain and wind chill. We checked our preparaions twice. Rain vest, extra gloves, shoe covers (essential), bottles, food to last till aid 1 or 2, ….etc.

A quick warm up through the parking lot and I saw a few of the faces I usually see. I said hey to Kevin Carter and then ran into Garth Prosser. I did not see the other 10 to 15 folks I usually see. Lots of folks not here, or lost to me in the pre-race buzz.

Soon we were off to a surprisingly civil start. It was about to become a long 10 hour plus race in on/off rain. I stayed close to the front of the group that split off from the pro peleton up the 1^st major road climb. We entered the single track and kept a good pace through the rain soaked trails.

Frank had taken off with the main group and I chased with the second group. I managed to catch Frank in the last few sections of the single track in the beginning of the race and we rode together on for a while. It’s always nice to be rolling through a hundred with a team mate.

From there on we assaulted a seemingly unending series of gravel climbs that took us to the lollipop section of the out and back course. The mountain scenery was quite nice at elevation. Many great views of the north Georgia mountains painted in green mixed with neon green highlights from new spring leaves nestled in cotton balls of fog and cloud.

Frank was out ahead of me as I plunged into this section that I dubbed “green hell” last year. Nothing like dropping thousands of feet to ride a trail so muddy my glasses became useless, only to have to claw my way back up in one hellacious climb. And so it was done.

Re-tracing the extensive fire road back towards the finish gave me ample time to reflect on how cold it was up on a mountain in the cold rain. It had been a little while since I could feel my thumbs. Soon, a long double track descent yielded to a trail that was extremely muddy, like a river of peanut butter and poo. Joy… Very exhausting to ride through.  Luckily a deep stream crossing at the end washed my wheels and drivetrain clean. That was great!

I downed cliff shots like jello shooters at the next aid and started the return trip. Soon I was glad to be riding mostly down back towards the finish. The only drawback was the cold draining my body heat. Then I got some pretty bad cramps in my belly… slowed me down a bit as I rolled the final sections of gravel.

I was completely spent when I reached the last six miles of water logged single track and nursed it home for a time of 10:54 ( about 43 mins slower than last year). The pro’s finished in 8:00 hours (~60 mins slower than last year).

I was glad to have finished a tough race in tough conditions, and also glad it was not raining worse than it had. Wow, what a tough way to kick off my 2013 NUE season.

Stagg Creek Shakedown

This was my first race at Poor Farm in a long time.  I've always had a love hate relationship with these trails.  This years course seems to have been designed with purely evil intentions based on the multitude of super steep, loose, and rooty climbs. 

I was racing the Cat 2 Open race which originally had a start time of noon, but was changed to 9 am the day before the race.  At this point I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it since I had to rearrange my family plans for the day.  I had planned on going out to pre-ride the course, but there were too many kids birthday parties in the way and I ran out of time.  With my participation in question I abandoned my usual pre-race dinner routine and ate too much Mexican food washed down by some good IPAs.

Later that evening I was able to get the family situation straightened out thanks to the help of my wife, some friends, and my in-laws.  With the race now on in the morning I focused on trying to get to bed early since I rarely get enough sleep.

I made it out of the house around 8 and arrived at Poor Farm Park about 20 minutes later.  Once I got there I found out that the race start had been moved back to 10am.  I was a little annoyed since I could have gotten a bit more sleep and probably would have eaten a more substantial breakfast.  I was surprised though to get the #1 number plate.  I'm not sure if I got it due to alphabetical order or my current 1st place series ranking that was attained due to consistant mediocrity and to well timed absences by some stronger racers.  Either way I figured that if I'm going to rock the #1 plate I better try to ride like I should have it.

Since I now had over an hour to kill before the race start I decided I would pre-ride a lap and see what the course was all about.  The trails started fast and flowy, but soon became a continuous up and down roller coaster with sharp turns that made you slow down to a crawl and then accelerate hard to get back up to speed over and over again.  Near the end you did get rewarded by a fast flowing section again.  Since climbing in not really in my skill set I was a bit worried, but determined to ride hard and try to make a break in the flats before getting to the climbs.

I got to the starting line and didn't recognize anyone that was starting with me.  All of the usual suspects were missing.  Could this be an opportunity to grab my elusive first race win?  I was prepared to blast off the line and get the hole shot using David Reids advice of "If you want it you gotta go for it".  When the starter said go I powered down on my pedal and my bike answered with an awful metallic crunch.  I looked down with panic to see my chain completely twisted and jammed on the outside of my big ring as the rest of the field went sprinting away.  I've had puzzling chain dropping issues all year, but on the first pedal stroke, really?  I quickly tried to yank my chain out, but it really looked like it was done.  Someone ran over and reminded me to stay relaxed and helped me get it unstuck and I finally got to start my race about a minute after everyone else.  I immediately noticed that something was wrong because my chain skipped every time it came through the derailleur.  I decided to ignore it the best I could and focus on chasing down the others.  As soon as I hit the first rooty section in the woods my chain dropped again, but I was able to ride it back up onto the ring without stopping.  I decided that I had to stick with the little ring only. Some quote about winning races in the corners popped into my head so I charged through the flats really pushing the corners to the highest of my abilities.  Pretty soon another racer appeared in front of me.  I pushed hard up a shallow gravel climb and got past him at the top.  I kept up my pace and soon came across another racer in the distance.  I chased him down and soon came upon the first steep climb.  It came right after a fast downhill toward the stream and went right back up after a 180 degree turn.  I had identified this climb as a hike-a-bike during my pre-ride so I dismounted at the bottom and ran up.  At the top I found another racer who was already gassed and let me go past.  At this point I reminded myself that there was still plenty of time and told myself to stay calm and steady.  I kept up a steady pace and once again saw another racer through the woods which motivated me to keep pushing harder.  Every time I found another one I put an imaginary target on their back and attacked.  About 3/4 through the first lap I came up on a racer at the top of a climb.  I rode his wheel a bit and sprinted past him on a short straight away.  As I went by I asked him if he knew how many were in front of him.  He said, " no one"!  Had I really caught everyone?  I wasn't sure if it was correct or not.  I wasn't sure exactly how many were at the start.  I assumed there were more and put the hammer down during the final flat section to put some distance between me and the last racer I passed.  When I crossed the start finish line at the end of the first lap I looked back and saw him just leaving the woods.

                                                                    (End of 1st Lap)

  I had a good gap and sprinted the best I could with my skipping chain to try and put more time in between us.  When I came across the guys that were directing the beginners to the other trail section I asked them how many were in front of me.  They replied, "No one" and I had to ask them if they were serious.  I've never been in this position this late in a race and I didn't want to let it go.  I kept picturing my chain breaking on me shortly before my first win or someone coming back to catch me since I'm famous for fading hard at the end.  I adjusted my race plan to ride any flats really hard and to "recover" on the climbs by spinning up them in my easiest gear.  As I started to get tired I began overbraking the turns and really got worried that I would get caught.  Near the end of the lap I saw some riders in the woods somewhere behind me.  I couldn't tell who it was (turned out to be some racers warming up for the noon start time) and picked up the pace even though I was pretty spent.  I momentarily lost my concentration and clipped a tree with my handle bar and did a superman over the top that ended in a good slide on my forearm and hip.  A little dazed I jumped back up and gave all I had left for the final mile or so to avoid the chasers that I thought were lurking right behind me.

I ended up having almost a 4 minute gap over 2nd place.  I know that I wouldn't have won if some of the other racers from my group had been there, but I'll take it.  The gift card will pay for a new chain.  :)  I'm happy to get my first win and will now train harder to make sure I do it again soon! 

                                                                    (Finish Line)

The rest of the team also had a good showing.  Our team should continue to lead the VAMTBS series!

David Reid  - 1st Cat 1 35+
Erik Bleecher - 1st Cat 2 Open
Tom Richeson - 2nd Masters
Sonya Richeson - 3rd - Women Cat 2

Pocohantas State Park Mountain Bike Race

Racing at Pocohantas. which is my home trail system, is something I have never been able to do.  I missed the race last year, and the only other race has been a duatholon.  The duatholon was fun, but not a true mountain bike race.  After some heavy rain in the week leading up to the race, we were fortunate to have perfect weather and excellent trail conditions on race day.  Huge thanks to the Friends of Pocohantas group for maintaining these trails. Support this group!

In the middle of the week Joe Fish threw out the idea of riding from his house to the race, then riding for a few hours after the race as well.  This seemed like a good idea, so I followed suit.  I was concerned I would get a bit of a chill on the ride to the race but didn't want to wear to many layers with near 70* temperatures expected at the race start.  I threw on some extra wind protection and arm warmers and hoped that would be enough to keep me warm for the 8 mile trek to the park.  Hard to believe it would warm up by 25* in the 90 minutes till the race started.  Needless to say, the pace of the post race ride was pretty mellow.

I was greeted by what seemed like a ton of mountain bikers as made my way through the park to the area where the race would start.  It was nice to be racing on trails that I am so familiar with heck, I even built some of these trails  I was even able to spin a loop the prior day so I knew exactly what to expect. The only varialbe was the bike I would be racing.  Endorphin Fitness just finished building my Scott Spark on Friday, so this would be my first race on this bike but also my first race on a full suspension bike.

Before I knew it, we were lining up at the start line.  The Pro/Expert field was small, but pretty stacked with some quality riders including Dylan Johnson, Matt Bailey, and of course Joe Fish. I lined up on the second row behind Matt figuring he would be a good wheel to follow.  The race was pretty frantic from the start.  This race has about a mile of fire road before entering the forest which seemed to go by in blur. I found myself in 3rd nearing the trail entrance which I felt good about although I knew it would be a battle to maintain it. About halfway through the first loop I made a pass leaving only Dylan out in front.  Bailey had gotten a bad start and I knew he would be pushing hard to join the leaders.  He passed me soon after and looked very strong.  I maintained my 6-8 second gap to the now leading group of two for most of the first lap, but eventually lost sight of them.

Nearing the end of the first lap, I had some drivetrain issues and couldn't get my bike into the big ring.  Frustrated, I stopped and manually put it in the big ring.  I was feeling strong and hoping to jump back on with the leaders during the second loop, but this small mechanical seemed to dash all hopes of catching them.  I continued to push hard with hopes that one of them would pop, but this never happened.  The 4th and 5th place riders eventually got close enough to me that I could see them on some of the longer switchbacks.  I was able to stay away and take a third overall, my best finish in my second XC race as an "Expert" racer. 

Other then the drivetrain issue, the Scott Spark performed perfectly.  What an excellent bike!  It was great being able to lock out the front and rear and really hammer on the fire road sections.  The bike inspired tons of confidence in railing the turns as well.  Huge thanks to EF for putting in some overtime last week to assemble this bike for me.  Two of the top three riders at this race were on a Spark, I guess it was the perfect bike for the course.

The team had some great results:

Sonya- 3rd Cat 2
Tom R.- 2nd Masters
Frank Y.- 1st Cat 2
Jeff P.- 1st Cat 2 35+
David R.- 1st Cat 1 35+
Joe F.- 4th Cat 1

Full results can be found here: RunRideRace

Sorry, light on pictures for this race.  I will add a few more this evening.



Mark giving directions to the Pro/Expert field



Frank getting ready to lay it down!

Plassman, daydreaming of another deer encounter

Damon and Dave, ready to roll



How did Damon change so fast??



Another Day at the Scout Camp

The Scout Camp venue is always one I have had a love/hate relationship with.  Much of the trail system is very fun, but then there are the slow, tight sections that have no flow and really wear on you after a few hours in the saddle.  The trail system was built primarily by Ed Jones mostly out of passion for mountain biking and the art of quality singletrack. You can see this throughout the camp in the the bench cutting required on some sections as well as the numerous bridges throughout. While RA More and several volunteers help Ed out from time to time, he is really the driving force behind this system of trails.

Of course, it was nice knowing this race at the Camp would not be nearly as long as 18 Hour race many of us are accustomed to. For me, I chose the "Enduro" 4 hour +1 lap format. I need the hours in the saddle and the weather was great.  With all the rain early in the week, Ed and I were a bit concerned there may be some sloppy sections.  Frank and I rode out there Friday to check the trail conditions, get a few miles in, and ensure trail markings were adequate.  All checked out and I felt good, even after spending a bit more time then my normal pre-race plan calls for on the trails (thanks EF).

As normal, the enduro race started out pretty quick.  I'm normally able to settle into my "endurance pace" pretty quickly, but not today.  Me and another rider managed to break free from the pack and we laid down a pretty quick first lap, quicker then I had wanted actually.  I continued to try and find my endurance pace through the second lap, but still felt my heart rate was a bit higher then I was comfortable with.  I caught a stick in my derailleur and the next thing I knew the rider I had been riding with was quickly out of sight.  I continued to push on trying to maintain my gap on the pack I thought for sure was just behind us.

As I exited the woods from lap 3, I saw the first place rider dip into the trail for his 4th lap.  Sweet, less then a minute seperated us at this point.  I pushed pretty hard in chase of the leader and finally caught him a few miles into lap #4.  I continued to push throughout the lap to ensure I would not be caught.  When I didn't see him on some of the longer switchbacks, I figured I was in the clear as long as I could maintain my pace.  I knew at this point we would only be completing 5 laps (I initially thought we would do 6).  My fifth lap was pretty relaxed.  I rolled with the Cat 1 leader, Keck Baker, for a mile or two after he caught me but didn't feel the need to follow him up the punchy climbs.  It was nice to just settle into a comfortable pace and enjoy the singletrack for the last lap.  I caught teamates Todd (who finished 5th) and Tom near the end of my last lap and chatted for a bit before slidding by.

What a great day to be out on the Stijl!  Perfect weather and trails!  Turned out the rain made the trails just a bit tacky on race day so you could really rail the swoopy turns that litter the course with the Racing Ralphs proving to be the perfect tire!  The cool new kits finally came in as well, with several of us sporting them at the event.

Lets do this again next week at Pocahantas!!

Team results:

Tom Richeson: 1st Masters
Sonya Richeson: 2nd Cat 2
David Reid: 1st Enduro
Frank Yeager: 3rd Enduro
Todd Green: 5th Enduro
Jim Fisher: 4th Cat 1 35+
Eric Bleecher: 4th Cat 2

Catching up...

Running through some old photos and I came across the team bikes all lined up and ready to go...  Giant hooking it up!