VRD #5 - Vail Grind

The Vail Grind, #5 race of the Vail Rec District MTB series, is easily one of my favorite races. Just an absolute crush-fest - 900 feet of elevation gain in a 4 mile lap. Cat 1 race was taking on three laps on this particular evening.

During the day leading up to the race, the skies opened up, and it just POURED for about 4 hours straight. After receiving a number of emails and phone calls from concerned racers, VRD announced the race would take place "rain or shine". Ummm...okaaaay...? The tires I have on my bike are really hardpack...only...tires. They pack up with mud in about three revolutions, can't clear it, and have no traction on wet roots.

Well, the rain stopped around 3:45pm, and the clouds broke to give way to bright sunshine. Four hours of rain kept the roots nice and slick, but the dirt turned absolutely perfect. Tacky all the way around the course.

Here's how my race started: I "Andy Schlecked" it 15 yards into the race. Started going up the hill out of the gate, too big of a gear, shifted, dropped the chain. Gave 30 seconds to everyone in the group. Fought back hard that lap, ended up climbing as high as 4th in the race, but ended up conceding a spot on the second lap, and another right at the very top of the climb on the third, and finished in a sprint to keep 6th. Had some back pain I could fight through, and other than that, had another absolutely stellar effort on the bike.

Vail Grind jungle action. Little bridge amongst the roots.

USA National Championships (w00t!)

USA National Championships.  The best of the best.  The real deal.  Sol Vista Bike Park, in Granby, CO.  Lucky enough for the race to more-or-less be in my back yard.  Race was at 8:00am, so after waking up at 3:45am to get over there, I didn't know what to expect.  No chance to preride the course.

Apparently, I was feeling pretty good.  I finished 12th, but I rode two really consistent laps (1:01:49  and 1:02:49, respectively), and felt like I was putting power to the pedals the entire race.  Ultimately, I was 8:12 out of 10th, 16:32 from the podium, and 18:29 from 1st.

All washed up after the race...very dusty.

The course started on a 15% dirt road that got steeper as you climbed, leveling off after about 150ft of gain.  Hopped onto a singletrack that wasn't difficult by itself, but was pretty tough after that opening climb.  Just unrelenting more than anything.  After a short, flat doubletrack, a turn onto a singletrack for lots of roots and uphill commenced.  Off that, more steep doubletrack that flattened out at the end, then onto the most arduous part of the climb - a 15-20 minute singletrack that was decently steep, but full of small (softball to football sized) rocks and roots.  I mean full...like northern France cobbles.  No love for the hardtail.  So I think the course gains just a hair over 1000ft in 4 miles.  Over the top, we go down a super tight and very rocky descent, then gain most of that elevation back with some relatively smooth singletrack (but steep...like point of the saddle steep).  Then the first descent.  DEEP sand, BIG rocks, loose all the way down.  Super technical...I sucked in this section, mainly because of my height.  Lose about 400 feet, then gain it all back on a heavily wooded doubletrack.  Descend from the second high point back to the base (with a short little 50ft burst climb...the descent was being used for the Super D Sunday).  It is a "beginner downhill" trail, so there were lots of 2 foot drops, big banked berms with hips connecting them, and more of that sandy rocky crap.  A 150 yard long warp-speed straightaway with a loose left-right chicane at the bottom was thrown in for good measure.  Finished the lap going through "the ballroom" - the base area is pretty void of trees, so everyone could watch you switchback and drop into the last three banked berms.  Its a fun course, but there was absolutely zero about it that was easy.

I lost probably 2 minutes on the first lap because I was overcooking corners in the sand, and having to let the front end of the 30+ age groups through.  I felt like my height wasn't letting me put the bike in the right position to get around the corners efficiently; I'm skittish that if I lean my bike too much in one of those corners in the trees, the bike will wash out, I'll hit the tree on the inside of the corner, and I'll be riding down on a stretcher instead of a 29er.  Its probably detrimental to me getting faster, but I'd rather finish slower than not finish.

I probably could have ridden two places better, but it is what it is.  I probably also could have picked up two more minutes if I had a full-suspension bike.  The top half of the climb and the first two descents were very rough - lots of roots and small rocks.  The rest of the time gap is just ability and experience gap.  The more important thing for me psychologically is that I never felt like I was going to come apart.  I keep catching myself being disappointed that I can't really compete with those guys yet, but I'm at where I'm at.  Just have to keep pushing on.  I'm really happy with the fact that I just felt like I had a good race for my ability.

Railing the descent on lap 1

And I did get to exercise a little bit of race tactic, which is unusual at the back end of a race - I was kind of dueling with another guy in our group; he got in front on the first half of the climb on the first lap, I got around and put 30s into him on the second half of the climb, he got it all back plus 10s on the descent.  I caught back up to him about a half mile into the climb on the second lap; he picked it up and I just sat his wheel through the first single track section, then I sprinted around him and got a gap to him on the next part of the ascent, which must have been a pretty big gap, as I ended up finishing 2 minutes in front of him.

MSC #5 - Race Recap

Short track race was very difficult.  20min + 2laps, we were riding laps between 3:15 and 3:30.  The difficult part was the fact that each lap had somewhere between 120ft and 150ft of climbing, so it was basically 26 minutes of steep hill intervals.  All the Cat1 age groups went together, so I really had no idea where I was. I felt, though, like I was in last place, because of the effort some people put in off the front.  Come to find out I finished 4th out of 7 in the 19-29 group, so I was actually pleased with that result.  I ended up torquing myself pretty hard in this race; I got in a decent cool down and got into my compression tights right afterward, but when I went to bed, my legs were just shot.  Still had a substantial lactate buildup in them, and they just didn't feel like they wanted to move.

Sunday's XC course starts on a 8-9% loose gravel road that pitches up to what has to be better than 12%, for nearly the first half mile.  That's followed by a bunch of switchback singletrack heading up the ski mountain, then finishes off with another 10% dirt road for a quarter mile before starting to traverse the mountain.  All in all, its a climb that at race pace takes me somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes to the top.  Much of the traverse, both out to the descent and back, has many short punchy climbs that just beat on your legs over and over, not to mention the combination with the technical aspect - lots of rocks and roots on the way out.

I think there were 13 of us that started.  I felt pretty good up the climb, but was already in 8th or 9th at that point, and spots throughout the climb showed me I was going to have lactate issues in my legs today.  Had a lot of fun on the traverse on the way out - was riding really well technically (for me, anyway).  The descent was a little wet from the night before, so I didn't take a lot of risks (its a singletrack that you can easily hit 30mph if you want); between the dampness, the roots, and my tires, one wrong move would be a slapdown of epic proportions.  Coming back to the start/finish, there were a number of those punchy 40-50ft climbs, which were just wreaking havoc on my legs and back.  By the time I got back to the lap-through, I was back in 10th, and really not wanting to do that climb again.  I made it about 3/4 mile into the climb, and just fell apart.  Got to this little 10" root step-up, put my front wheel on top, went to pedal the bike up, and...nothing.  Literally just fell over.  I cracked hard coming up that climb, as I very rarely got out of the easiest gear I had, and even had to get off the bike once.  My legs were absolutely on fire, and my back was so uncomfortable...felt like Teva Games all over again.  Coming across the traverse, I think I cleared one real technical uphill section, so there was a lot more getting off the bike.  By the time I made it to the descent for the second lap, a torrential downpour started, then it hailed so hard it turned everything white, then it started hailing and raining hard.  Huge thunder claps in every direction.  Turned the entire descent into a 3" deep river, because the trail was the only place for the water to go.  Had to gingerly ride the rest of the way back, stopped to take off my glasses b/c I couldn't see with them on, sliding completely sideways in some spots...it was an unbelievable 20 minutes.  Crossed the line still in 10th, so I did manage to stay in front of one person, as two people dropped out.  The only saving grace - man, is that a fun set of trails to ride.  As bad as it hurt, rarely was I not having fun (especially in the rain and hail - that was just surreal).

Couple of things to note about my lap splits:
- My second lap took about 30 seconds longer than my first, and the second lap was 3 miles shorter (ouch!)
- My first lap time, including the difficulty I was starting to have on the trail back, was 20 seconds slower than the first place Cat 2 time (just check those to justify my existence in Cat 1 after what I felt was such a poor race)
- My time was actually 9 minutes slower than my time was as a Cat2 last year (obviously, the slow descent and return on the second lap did not help matters greatly here...probably makes up for at least 5 of the 9 minutes).

Quick Little Update

Wow...it's really been a week and a half since I last posted, huh?

OK - here's a little recap of what's been going on lately.

MSC #5 - Blast The Mass - Snowmass Village, CO
     +4th - STXC - Cat 1/19-29
     +10th - XC - Cat 1/19-29

USA National Championships - Sol Vista, Granby, CO
     +13th - XC - Cat 1/25-29

VRD #5 - Vail Grind - Vail, CO
     +6th - XC - Expert/Cat 1

Oh, and the Tour de What the F*$k has still been going on.  Pretty predictable so far...other than the fact that Lance completely disappeared from the General Classification standings.  Andy Schleck dropped his chain at a crucial point on Monday's stage, which I managed to repeat to near perfection myself tonite at the VRD race.  15 yards from the starting line.  More about that later.

Riding Fast in Little Circles

A true Friday Afternoon Club - the Dusty Boot Short Track (STXC) series.  What the hell, might as well do it tonight.  Laps are only 2-3 minutes in length, race is 17 minutes + 1 lap:  110% effort.

Following it up tomorrow morning with another STXC race in Snowmass, at the 5th stop on the Mountain States Cup series:  Blast the Mass.  20 mins more at 110% effort.

Blast the Mass XC race Sunday morning - organizers shortened the course with National Championships coming up next weekend.  Race is less than 20 miles, and should be right around a 2hr effort.

Got a massage last night, and man did that beat me up.  My back was so knotted up that the masseuse's arms were just slipping and lumping across my spine and back.  Ouch.  Need a lot more work, but I'm waiting till after Nationals to get worked on.

Also toying with racing on a team for 24 Hours in the Sage, a 24-hour mountain bike race in Gunnison, CO.  Dunno, maybe.

Tour What The F**k

Well, we're officially a Prologue and four stages into this year's Tour de France, to be affectionately known henceforth as the Tour What The F**k.

Prologue - crashes occurred on this short-length individual time trial, held on the rain-slicked roads of Rotterdam.

A Footon-Servetto rider, after crashing in the Prologue.

Stage 1 (Rotterdam to Brussels) - three pileups occur in the last 1000m, the first of which was caused by Mark Cavendish (who apparently can only ride his bike in a straight line, and even that is questionable).

Pileup at a sharp right-hand bend with 1k to go.

Stage 2 (Brussels to Spa) - Major crash occurs on descent from category 3 climb, on rain- and oil-slicked road about 15ft wide.  General Classification contender and USA rider Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Transitions) is forced to abandon after completing the stage.  Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) encourages entire peloton to sit up and cross finish line together, a form of protest to organizers about race conditions.

Garmin-Transitions rider Tyler Farrar, picking himself up off the ground. In the rain.

Stage 3 (Wanze - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut) - A course typically reserved for the 'spring classics', such as Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix, multiple casualties occur on seven distinct cobblestone sections, furthering the ire drawn on most riders about this particular stage.  Statistics showed that nearly half the peloton starting the stage had no previous experience racing cobblestones...17 kilometers of them proved to be decisive on the day.  Crash of significance took out GC contender Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank).  Also, it appears people are getting a little 'testy' out there on the bicycles.  Let's just be friends, mmmkay?

Saxo Bank rider Frank Schleck, with a collarbone that is now in three pieces.

Stage 4 - didn't seem like anything of note, but I haven't watched the stage...yet.

Rabbits!

FYI to all you uber-wealthy vacation homeowners:

If you have blocks of skinned rabbit at your Master Bedroom headwall, you will get blogged.

Ummm...weird.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

MSC #4 - Wildflower Rush

Well, after having an entire week to let the event sink in, saturate my body, twist my mind, and reflect on the experience, here's what went down last week at Crested Butte:

Saturday, June 26 was the day for the fourth race in the Mountain States Cup series, the Wildflower Rush.

Racing this event last year as a Cat 2 (Sport) rider, we did several laps up a steep-but-fun singletrack up the ski area at Crested Butte, followed by a gnarly descent down a freshly-cut singletrack, with lots of bumps, roots, rocks, and loose, loamy dirt.

This year, the race truly coincided with Crested Butte's annual "Fat Tire Bike Week", a week-long affair with lots of music, drinking, and mountain bike tomfoolery.  Of course, part of the fun is the Chainless Downhill, a race down Kebler Pass into the town, on bikes with the chains removed.  NO pedaling, just riding the bike.  Lots of costumes, lots of alcohol consumed.  I'm sure good times are had by all...

Enough of that.  Back to the race.  Since the events were concurrent this year, the Pro and Cat 1 fields were 'treated' to the Fat Tire 40 XC course - forty miles of singletrack goodness.  Literally, 90%, or 4 miles, was on dirt road.  The rest was pure, fresh high-Rockies singletrack.  This means thin air, long technical climbs, long technical descents, and breathtaking views.

And suff-er-ing.

FT40 Course Profile. Almost 7800 feet of climbing, topping out at well over 12,000ft above sea level.

Race started at 8:00am, and due to the length and the type of start, there wasn't much of a point to an extended warm-up.  Breakfast, 10 minutes of spinning, and we're lining up.  Race started by switchbacking up the main ski area for a mile or so, then went off to the south, onto the New Deli trail, a rocky, rooty but fun singletrack traversing around the west side of Mt. Crested Butte (the mountain, not the town).  Pure Colorado jungle. Unfortunately, a sprinkle of rain the night before made this section a little more damp than I would have liked, as there were a number of short climbs up some big rocks and roots, and my Hutchinson Pythons weren't exactly holding the trail particularly well.

Course map. That's a big-ass loop.

Dumping out onto Brush Creek Road, we turned uphill and began a short 1-1/2 mile section of road. Caught a couple people to draft on, then we started climbing in earnest. A single/doubletrack reaching grades of 20% or better stretched on for a number of miles before we hopped onto true singletrack, and started climbing up to the Strand Hill area.

Once on Strand Hill, we looped around the Farris Creek trail (see the small loop section on the map). This trail was pretty fun, as it climbed somewhat mellow for quite a while. All of a sudden, you started descending. I mean, really going down hill. It officially serves as the most technical section of trail I've ever cleaned completely. It's really hard to explain just how long this rock garden was...imagine riding a bike down a staircase. And the staircase is a mile long. At the bottom, what had to be 10 riders were fixing flats from this section, and I'm sure a countless number of others had issues throughout the descent.

Colorado Jungle. New Deli Trail, Crested Butte, CO.

After Farris Creek, we rode some flowy meadow-type trails to get back to Brush Creek road. Just before reaching the road (mile 20), there was a creek river crossing. 30 feet wide, and literally thigh-deep. Pick up the bike and run through. Water was about 42 degrees...effin COLD. Anyways, hopped on the bike, spun through the 20-mile aid station for some new water bottles, and continued on.

I was just over two hours in, and felt like I was having a pretty good ride for the halfway point.

Funny how your mind can change in a hurry. As we started climbing out of the 20 mile point, toward Pearl Pass, within 20 minutes, I was psychologically just trying to finish. The main climb of the course, from Brush Creek Road up to the top of the Deer Creek trail, absolutely crushed me, mentally and physically.

Anyways, we continued up Brush Creek Road toward Pearl Pass, but took a left of that road and continued up a winding single/doubletrack with, again, grades that reached 20% or better. But this climb never let up. After climbing for half an hour on that section, we officially started the Deer Creek Trail, a beautiful but uber-steep 10-mile long trail connecting Brush Creek Road to Gothic Road. About a 5 minute reprieve when we started the trail, then right back up. This section had grades that were well in excess of 20%, but never shallower than 15%. And roots; oh my God the roots. At about 2:45 in, my body truly started giving up. Not 'bonking', per se - I just flat out ran out of gas. This sad sack of meat didn't have that long of an effort in it. Eventually had to dismount and push the bike up the hill, and even that was exhausting at 12,500ft. I'd push my bike into a root, and realize I didn't have the strength in my arms to actually push the bike up and over. Had to literally pick the bike up, and put it back down above the root. About 5 creek crossings and steep pitches later, we could finally start descending. Treated to the kind of pictures they put on post cards, I started ripping down toward Gothic Road as quickly as my strength would allow.

Heading up to Deer Creek from Brush Creek Road; photo by VastAction

I rolled into the 30-mile aid station at Gothic Road at just over 4 hours in. After finishing the first half of the race in 2 hours, I just proceeded to lay an egg and ride that 10-mile stretch in the same 2 hours. Wow. Grabbed a banana and two new bottles, and off I went. Suddenly, I had some life back in the legs, and was able to big-ring Gothic Road back into town.

Just when I thought it was over, the course was routed back up the ski area on the backside. Switchback after switchback, I slogged up Crested Butte. In my granny gear. I had nothing left. I mean, you couldn't even smell the gas fumes anymore, I was so blown.

As I crested (no pun intended) the top of the final climb of the day, two-thirds of the way up the mountain, I started into the descent down to the finish line. Two miles of super bumpy, super loose, super rocky singletrack laid between me and the end. And it was excruciating. My legs couldn't keep the bike moving forward anymore, my back was on fire from the constant bouncing on the hardtail, and my shoulders were numb from the bike handling. My triceps were cramping they were so tired. And my mind was completely absent. I didn't even notice the views I had at the top (like in the picture to the side). I just wanted to be done.

View north from high on Crested Butte. No, it's not a green screen...it actually looked like that. I think.

After numerous close calls on the way down (just too tired and sloppy to ride well), I finally came limping across the finish line. 5 hours and 10 minutes after I started, I was finally back at the same spot, and couldn't have been happier.

In retrospect, it was a great ride for me. That was the longest my stamina actually held on (for about 3 hours) this season, I did a good job of keeping a steady tempo for that period, and I had not one mechanical issue, flat, or nourishment issue. Just to finish that race was impressive, as many people didn't. I managed to finish in front of someone I have been competing with in all the other MSC races, so I was pretty stoked about that, too.

Oh yeah, and it was a beautiful ride. Not that I noticed. :)

IFF,B!

Time now for another installment of IFF,B!

Enjoy walking your dogs on this Fourth of July Weekend!