New shots of the collar bone. I was left along for 20 minutes to stare at these. My palms were sweaty and I was literally sweating through my shirt in anticipation/fear. Thankfully, I have my friend Wade (who's going into Orthopedics) to share the xrays with before the Dr. walked in. He was reassuring me I would not need surgery but, I was still a little freaked. I love you in a non-homosexual, brotherly way Wade.
The xrays look worse than Sunday don't they? However, As bad as it looks, the Orthopedic Surgeon's words were...
"We treat these non-surgically."
"It looks like it's already healing."
"You are going to have one heck of a bump due to the angle it's at."
"You should feel 100% in 1-2 weeks but, it could take up to 12 weeks to fully heal."
"You can't screw it up from healing as long as you are not causing yourself pain." ---Which includes running and bike riding!
Not the month I was dreaming of but, good news just the same!
June 22, 2011
Observations with a Broken Collar Bone
Things that suck or are surprisingly difficult or annoying with a broken collar bone
Also tried out some new chain lube after borrowing some from Bryan at Mohican. Pro Gold. It seemed to loosen all of the White Lightening chain lube I had on on cx bike chain which had become a sticky, black, gunky mess. Resulting in it flinging off into pretty large spots on the floor and all over the rear rim. Drive train was certainly quiter though and the chain looks clean after just a quick one handed wipe down.
See the ortho today. A bit terrified at the moment
- Peeing standing up without your pants dropping to the floor. Makes for good bathroom convo.
- Surprise attacks from a 9 year in Karate who you typically spar with
- Dropping something and instinctively reaching to catch it
- Eating a Jimmy Johns sub sandwich
- Being dependent on voice dialing when in the car (I f***ing said call Mom, not voice message Dad! WTF?)
- Having to put your wallet, two cell phones and car keys only in your right hand pockets
- Socks
- Roll down car windows
- Key card security doors
- Pouring milk
- Washing your hands
- People asking my why am at work
- People telling me it’s not that bad because I don’t appear to be in any pain
- Unsolicited medical advice from IT professionals
- Having to sit up to hit the snooze button on my alarm in the morning
Also tried out some new chain lube after borrowing some from Bryan at Mohican. Pro Gold. It seemed to loosen all of the White Lightening chain lube I had on on cx bike chain which had become a sticky, black, gunky mess. Resulting in it flinging off into pretty large spots on the floor and all over the rear rim. Drive train was certainly quiter though and the chain looks clean after just a quick one handed wipe down.
See the ortho today. A bit terrified at the moment
June 20, 2011
Life is not without challenges
So, I take an embarrassingly slow and light fall on my son's bmx bike yesterday and hear a pop in my left shoulder. Stand up to shake it off and realize, Sh*t! I just broke collar bone. How is that possible? I cart wheel and endo off my bike pretty much every ride. I didn't put my arm down as I hear is typically the cause for such an injury. It didn’t even hurt. WTF? Do I have some sort of bone depleting illness? Am I 90 years old? I am typically a pretty hard MF. Guess not any more. Happy F***ing Father’s Day! Oh well. I have to deal with it now. So, I announced to the family and rest of the folks at the party we were at what I had done. Get a few shocked faces when I share what apparently is a deformity hiding under my shirt and we set out to the urgent care.
Spent the excruciatingly long wait at the urgent care between constant asks if I need something for the pain (Apparently I look like a junkie or was supposed to be in more pain) texting all the people I knew that had broken their collar bone and the surprising number of Physician Assistant friends I have. Hoping to hear something along the lines of “Oh you’ll be running in two weeks with no pain. Lay off the MTB for about 4 and you’ll be hitting weights by 6.” The responses vary but, average out to be about 6 weeks. An eternity.... I talk to the doctor who pretty much tells me that given the fact I am in so little pain and can force my arm up so high, that he doubts it’s broken but, he better get some xrays to be sure. Ya think? After more inquiries about whether I need something for the pain (apparently I am supposed to be leering from it) I finally get some xrays. I bounce off the table when I realize the tech has them up on the computer screen. She tries her best to run through the prompts but, I catch a glimpse and ask her “That’s broke all the way through isn’t it?” Her response “Yeah. Completely but, I didn’t tell you that and you didn’t see it until the doctor shows it to you.” After a redundant confirmation with the doctor and some more reassurances that pain med are for pu**ies on my part, I am out the door with my gift copy of my xray and parting words "partially fused in 3 weeks. 100% in 6." It sounded like 2 years when he said 6 weeks.
Kids were still up when we get home and I get to open my Father’s Day gifts one handed after removing my son’s bike and bike rack from the van. Much easier said than done with one gimpy arm. Apparently, the kids had some time while I was in the urgent care and made me cards. My daughter’s had the best quotes “Why did you throw your sunglasses out the window?” and “Sorry you broke your bone.” Obviously, evidence I was less than thrilled about my situation on the way to urgent care.
Trying to find some positives through all the negatives. So, far I’ve enjoyed telling my wife I need help wiping my butt. She’s less than thrilled with the jokes and the whole situation.
Need to go get a second opinion from an ortho shortly. The Dr. at the urgent care advised against a sling. His claim was the bone was aligned well, it wouldn't help if heal much faster and I'd be in physical therapy for weeks if he gave me one. Plus, I didn't seem to be in enough pain to warrant one.
Spent the excruciatingly long wait at the urgent care between constant asks if I need something for the pain (Apparently I look like a junkie or was supposed to be in more pain) texting all the people I knew that had broken their collar bone and the surprising number of Physician Assistant friends I have. Hoping to hear something along the lines of “Oh you’ll be running in two weeks with no pain. Lay off the MTB for about 4 and you’ll be hitting weights by 6.” The responses vary but, average out to be about 6 weeks. An eternity.... I talk to the doctor who pretty much tells me that given the fact I am in so little pain and can force my arm up so high, that he doubts it’s broken but, he better get some xrays to be sure. Ya think? After more inquiries about whether I need something for the pain (apparently I am supposed to be leering from it) I finally get some xrays. I bounce off the table when I realize the tech has them up on the computer screen. She tries her best to run through the prompts but, I catch a glimpse and ask her “That’s broke all the way through isn’t it?” Her response “Yeah. Completely but, I didn’t tell you that and you didn’t see it until the doctor shows it to you.” After a redundant confirmation with the doctor and some more reassurances that pain med are for pu**ies on my part, I am out the door with my gift copy of my xray and parting words "partially fused in 3 weeks. 100% in 6." It sounded like 2 years when he said 6 weeks.
Kids were still up when we get home and I get to open my Father’s Day gifts one handed after removing my son’s bike and bike rack from the van. Much easier said than done with one gimpy arm. Apparently, the kids had some time while I was in the urgent care and made me cards. My daughter’s had the best quotes “Why did you throw your sunglasses out the window?” and “Sorry you broke your bone.” Obviously, evidence I was less than thrilled about my situation on the way to urgent care.
Trying to find some positives through all the negatives. So, far I’ve enjoyed telling my wife I need help wiping my butt. She’s less than thrilled with the jokes and the whole situation.
Need to go get a second opinion from an ortho shortly. The Dr. at the urgent care advised against a sling. His claim was the bone was aligned well, it wouldn't help if heal much faster and I'd be in physical therapy for weeks if he gave me one. Plus, I didn't seem to be in enough pain to warrant one.
June 18, 2011
BTT Super Epic - 6/18
Gotta keep it brief. I am supposed to be working on a presentation for work.
Turned out to be an awesome morning. Up at 4:15, out the door at 4:47 and met up with Tom Sterling @ 5:15 for the ride into D-town. Turns out it's 30 miles to Fort Wayne and the start of BTT versus the 20ish I had thought. So, I knew once we arrived at the Fort I'd by putting on some serious miles on the bike today. Even if all of them weren't going to be blazing. So, it ends up being about 90 miles to ride to and from my place and to the ride the ride itself. Throw in some loops on the hills in downtown Northville (Why am I doing hill repeats after 90 miles of riding? I must have a screw loose.) and that equals 100. That's my first 100 miles on a bike in a day outside a race. The ride in and out was definitely some good training 18-21mph all the way on the MTB. I think I averaged about 16mph if I recall what my computer stated. Yeah, BTT is a pretty chill ride and pulled the average down quiet a bit. Great to see Andy E., Andy S. & Jason from the team. Enjoyed the ride back with them. Plus good seeing the some of the BTT regulars. BTT Super Epic completed. Nice turn out for the ride as well. I believe the count was 40. Still can't beileve that Andy can remember everyone's name so quickly.
Tried something new and dumped the pics I snapped from my picasa album versus a link. Hope they don't swamp your browser. The pictures don't do the ride justice. Riding in the D is a riot. So much to see and so much character. Still debating commuting in on Mon. & Fri. Even after discovering it's going to be over 30 miles one way. Need to get the Motobecane cobbled back together first. And I am a pretty ugly dude. Even uglier at 6am in the morning. Evidence below.
Turned out to be an awesome morning. Up at 4:15, out the door at 4:47 and met up with Tom Sterling @ 5:15 for the ride into D-town. Turns out it's 30 miles to Fort Wayne and the start of BTT versus the 20ish I had thought. So, I knew once we arrived at the Fort I'd by putting on some serious miles on the bike today. Even if all of them weren't going to be blazing. So, it ends up being about 90 miles to ride to and from my place and to the ride the ride itself. Throw in some loops on the hills in downtown Northville (Why am I doing hill repeats after 90 miles of riding? I must have a screw loose.) and that equals 100. That's my first 100 miles on a bike in a day outside a race. The ride in and out was definitely some good training 18-21mph all the way on the MTB. I think I averaged about 16mph if I recall what my computer stated. Yeah, BTT is a pretty chill ride and pulled the average down quiet a bit. Great to see Andy E., Andy S. & Jason from the team. Enjoyed the ride back with them. Plus good seeing the some of the BTT regulars. BTT Super Epic completed. Nice turn out for the ride as well. I believe the count was 40. Still can't beileve that Andy can remember everyone's name so quickly.
Tried something new and dumped the pics I snapped from my picasa album versus a link. Hope they don't swamp your browser. The pictures don't do the ride justice. Riding in the D is a riot. So much to see and so much character. Still debating commuting in on Mon. & Fri. Even after discovering it's going to be over 30 miles one way. Need to get the Motobecane cobbled back together first. And I am a pretty ugly dude. Even uglier at 6am in the morning. Evidence below.
June 17, 2011
Beat The Train Super Epic in the am - I Hope
Weather is actually looking promising in the am tomorrow. Gonna have to be up and on the bike at about 4:45am but, it's going to be awesome. First shot at the BTT ride from Plymouth in the morning. Hoping for about 85 miles just riding into and back from downtown Detroit and the ride itself. Hoping I have the legs to add on and make it a century. Going to be my first ride attempt with a camelback as well. I hope my light still holds a charge. The battery is pretty old and I only used it once last year. Damn that is a lot of "hopes." I am probably destined for trouble.
The Redline is going to get it's second non tag a long pulling ride ever in the am. It's coming together nicely. Put my new seat, computer on and cut down the bars tonight. Still rocking an anchor of a cassette. That and a switch to a small block on the front and she's race ready. Betting I'll be messing with the seat position all day. Didn't even sit on it. Oh well. Rock n' Roll!
The Redline is going to get it's second non tag a long pulling ride ever in the am. It's coming together nicely. Put my new seat, computer on and cut down the bars tonight. Still rocking an anchor of a cassette. That and a switch to a small block on the front and she's race ready. Betting I'll be messing with the seat position all day. Didn't even sit on it. Oh well. Rock n' Roll!
Random Friday Thoughts
- Woke up at 4:15ish when the wife woke to feed the baby. Couldn't fall back asleep.
- Laid in bed making an attempt at sleep until ~5am. No dice.
- Near 60 degrees this morning. Did someone say bike ride?
- My wife looks pretty when she sleeps. I much prefer it over when she walks through the house frowning and slouching.
- My new blinky light fits two of my bike saddles. Maybe because they are the same.
- My cx bike looks funny with 700X32, smoothy tires. Like an old Schwinn or something.
- Apple Cytomax tastes good before 6am.
- I love my cx bike. It seems to fit me perfectly. I love not having to avoid anything and still go fast with big but, smooth tires. I need to order some wider bars for it. Sometimes I wish it had 175mm cranks. It'd make mashing up hills more painful and fun.
- Why do I like wide bars on road bikes but, narrow on my MTB's?
- Hines Drive is amazing on a summer morning. It's no Blue Ridge Parkway but, still beautiful. Saw a motorcyclist stop and take a picture of the sun rise. Certainly a beautiful morning.
- I barely rode last year and even less this year. My shoes are squeaking like crazy and clearly are not as rigid as before. I hate creaks and squeaks. Need to go into Trails Edge and look into some carbon shoes.
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is still an unbelievable song. Came on when I was in the car yesterday. I about blew the speakers out of the doors. Still raging in my head.
- Can you taste air? Spring/Summer air is so much different than Winter air. I swear I can taste it.
- Time is still flying by when I run or ride. 9 hours on a bike has done strange things to my internal clock. I wonder if 9 hours on a bike would seem long now? Oops, I've been riding for 40 min. Time to flip and head back.
- Lumberjack is tomorrow. I am hoping to get some real time updates from the folks supporting the team during the race. I need to send of some form of insulting but, motivating text messages tonight.
- I want to ride a century this weekend. I have never done one outside of a race. Tomorrow's probably my only window. More rain forecasted. Sh*tty. Most importantly, I wanted to make part of it the BTT ride. Miss those.
- Why does my knee hurt when I ride my bike but, not when I am running lately? Totally opposite of usual.
- I need to put a computer on my cx bike. I should have been more careful with my Garmin last year. How fast am I going?
- I rode up and down 5 mile hill for 30 minutes on Tues. Why is it so steep today?
- Why do I sweat so much? This is why I can't seem to finish a race with my sun glasses on. I fill them with sweat and they become a foggy, blurry mess.
- I think I could commute to work 2-3 days a week if I didn't have to carry a laptop. Even it it's 70+ miles a day. Maybe I'll try it in July if I get the Motobecane built back up.
- GLR is going to be great. I think I am going to take my car this year. Even if someone will have to lay down in the back seat to fit. I need to bite the bullet and get a new car. Mine stinking like sweaty feet may be just be the motivation.
- I think I will take the kids for ice cream tonight if the weather is good. Maybe to the Dairy Go Round since it's a little farther. Evan will get a kick out of measuring the distance if I can get the computer I ordered for him on his bike before hand.
- Friday is "no shave" day! My head at least.
June 13, 2011
8 days streak
8 days. 1 day of cycling and 7 of running. At least three runs over an hour. What is the significance of that? It's the most training/exercise I've strung together in a row since 2009. I know, pretty pathetic. But, a win none the less. After a week of running in worn out shoes my knees are saying "loose some weight, get some new shoes or ride some of the $6k in bikes you have rotting in the basement." My mind and body seems to say " I want more." I am amazed at what 9 hours on a bike ending in near exhaustion results in. Besides some sort of a spark in motivation, it's made a 45min run fly by in what feels like 15. Now that "fingers crossed" the weather seems to have broken, I think I'll plan to get up in the am and climbs some hills on the cx bike. Maybe get in a couple of loops on Maybury this week as well. Hoping to make it out to Poto or somewhere fun this weekend.
June 10, 2011
More rain = Buzz Kill
Rain Rain go away. I wanna ride my bike today. Well tomorrow. But the forecast is worse. Guess I am back on the bi-weekly cycling program.
June 06, 2011
Mohican 100 - A Suprising Success
Wow. How to summarize a 100 mile race. Especially, one with as versatile and challenging of a course as the Mohican. I could write a novel.
Short Version…
What a grueling course. It was packed full of the widest variety of terrain I’ve ever ridden. And who could forget, climbing. A ton of it. It was certainly a challenging course and day. Poor choices in what I put in my mouth and heat made it even tougher. It took everything I had to finish up the last 10 miles of single track. Overall, just finishing the race was extremely rewarding. Pulling off a near 9 hour time and hanging about after the race knocked it out of the park.
Long Version…
Pre-Race:
After a panic packing session and minor freak out over fear my bike was not fit to cover the distance Thurs., teammate Bryan Deal and I headed out after cutting the workday a little short on Friday. Thankfully, Loundonville, OH is only a 3ish hour drive. Even though I had to take a few work calls in the car, the drive seemed to work out of my pre-race jitters that had me squirming in my chair at the week wore on. We arrived in the knick of time and picked up our race numbers and drop bags. We had plenty of time to grab dinner and a beer or two at the Mohican Tavern and discuss drop bag strategy before a minimal amount of pre-race prep and lights out at the Blackfork Inn bed and breakfast. Which turned out to be a great place. Not only for the fact it was about ¼ mile from the start of the race but, the owner’s (Sue) hospitality, ice cold a/c and complementary ear plugs if the trains that ran near by. Which certainly wasn’t an issue on the either of the nights. It had been a long week at work. Lights out by about 11pm was no struggle.
Start:
Moments later, alarms were going off and after a snooze button or two, we were up and around. Breakfast and dropping off our drop bags at registration left us with an hour to spare before the start. Which raced by. Before we knew it, we were pedaling to the start. Since Bryan and I signed up, race strategy was going to be to ride together, just finish and have fun. We hadn’t discussed race strategy for about a week and I am pretty sure our conversation amounted to “ok, I’ll see you out there.” However, though was due to the fact that we had heard there was a good deal of flats on the course, on the SS, I’d likely be naturally faster on the climbs and considering Bryan is a dive bombing death machine on a geared bike, he’d likely catch me on the down hills and on the flats. Given my race strategy was “just finish and have fun” and I didn’t plan on going all out any time near the start, that was probably a decent plan. Bryan and I showed up roughly 5 minutes before the start and lined up near the rear. We were informed about a minute before the start that most of the 100k field was in front of us waiting to start 15min after the 100 milers. We did out best to work through the pack but, we didn’t make it far enough to the front. I am pretty sure we were the last two people to leave the line for the 100miler after fishing our way through remainder of the 100k racers ahead of us. So, that race strategy we worked on. Yeah, that didn’t last a mile. There is a pretty decent climb just about a ¼ mile from the start. Seeing the rate of climb I knew there was no way I wanted to hit it with zero momentum. So, I hit it with speed and rode up it off the saddle and probably put 50 people behind Bryan and I. I figured things would probably flatten out at the top or even better descend. Giving Bryan the chance to catch up. Wrong.
Start to Aid Station 2:
It wasn’t long before we were off road. It’s really tough to describe this section. It’s about 30 miles with some pretty technical sections. Log piles, rock gardens, some stream crossings, at least one hike a bike and lots of roots. Not to mention climbing. Lots of climbing. Then descending. Then more climbing. I think the only way I can describe it or put a frame of reference around it is riding Poto and Pontiac Lake back to back with more climbing and obstacles. I certainly wasn’t burning the candle at both ends but, I was catching and passing quite a few people just due to the fact I went with 2:1 gearing and the geared bikes were spinning away in granny gears on the slightest sign of ascent. For a guy that has been riding on a trail about once every 2 weeks, this section was tough. I was feeling really off in regards to my handling skills. I managed to pull off two endos. One on the first log pile. Which I going to blame on rider traffic and not having enough speed to clear it. The second was entirely my fault. I got hung up on a root in a corner and went right over the bars. When once I got up I realized that my bars had twisted all the way around and were locked by the fact I didn’t raise my brake levels high enough to clear the frame. It required use of my multi tool to loosen then retightened the lever and get things back in order. I later discovered I had been exchanging places with the 2nd place women for most of this section. After my crashes I was getting pretty cautious in the rougher sections. I found it easier to follow her and as literally ran away from me on the descents and I caught her on the climbs. All of the climbing and single track with little room for passing pretty much put a bullet in the plan to ride with Bryan. I was highly doubtful he had the opportunity to close up the gap.
Aid Station 2 to 3:
After some 40+ mph descent and a decent amount of climbing on some dirt roads just prior to aid station 2, I was excited to make my first stop of the race. I had made the mistake of only taking 2 water bottles at the start and not stopping at Aid station 1 to refill. Plus, I was basically out of gu, shot blocks and etc. I was thirsty and starting to get hungry. So, I drank and ate a little of everything that was there besides restocking and ensuring I left with 3 water bottles this time. Coke, Heed, Endurolytes, etc, etc. Now the first 30 or so miles were definitely tough but, even though it was nearly 100% road, the next 14-16 were honestly the toughest part of the race. At least from my perception climbing wise. By this time, I had thrown out my initial race strategy and like a whiny kid, I was honestly upset I put a big scratch in my top tube when I drug my brake lever over the top of it during my second endo. And for some sadistic reason, I love climbing. Pedal mashing, leg burning, shoulder cramping, wind sucking climbing. So, I let it hang out a little more than I should have. I rode every one but, one climb until the next aid station. Which I didn’t make it up due to traction.
Aid Station 3 to 4:
I had no intention of stopping at aid station #3 when Bryan and I prepped a bag for it. I figured it’d be a good “just in case” decision. Boy was I glad did. I had already knocked back two water bottles in my fit of climbing. Primarily because my stomach was rather upset from the mess I put into it at aid station 2. I asked to have my water bottles filled with just water and rolled out. By then it had gotten pretty hot. The aid station was approx. 46 miles in and I figured that it was time to see what I had in the tank. So I mashed up the hill that immediately followed the aid station passing a guy in an ASU jersey and another rider. As soon as, we hit the single track (again up hill) I realized I my legs were fried. So, I hopped off and walked it. The single track portion of this stetch seemed grueling. I felt like I had very little left in my legs so, I walked most anything uphill and remotely technical. I rode most of the leg with Ryan (guy in the ASU jersey). We eventually got out of the single track. We seem to both feeling about the same and riding/walking the same sections. Turns out he’s also from Michigan and is running the GLR (http://greatlakesreleay.com) this July. I was glad to have him around. I think we kept each other moving. Eventually, we got onto the road and things got easier. At that point, I realized if the race was indeed 100 miles of single track, there was no way I would have been able to finish. We were probably about 60 miles. I was honestly worried there was going to 40 miles of single track ahead.
Aid Station 4 to 5:
At this point the race is a bit of a blur. Aid station 4 was approx. 72 miles into it. I ditched my spare tube at this point so, I could carry more food and was still riding with Ryan from ASU. I also believe we caught a guy in an orange bike barn jersey and we rode together a bit. Could have been just before it. Things are pretty fuzzy at this point. This stretch had some monster hills I had to walk but, if my somewhat delusional memory servers me, it had a good 10 or 15 miles of rail to trail/roads. This terrain felt effortless for me to spin on when I was seated. I dropped everyone I was riding with and picked off a few single speeders in the process as well. Which I admit got my spirits high and motivation up. I stopped in at the unofficial mile 80 aid station, refilled on water and kept rolling. Picking off people along the way. I was geeked I hadn’t run into much, if any single track. I still felt like I had nothing left if I mashed off the seat but, great if I could stay in the saddle. At this point I started to get mixed in with some 100k riders. Which again gave me someone to catch & pass. I caught and traded positions with another 100 miler for at least 10 miles. Oddly, I’d pass him on the flats and he’d catch me as a walked hills.
Aid Station 5 to Finish:
Aid station 5 was approx. 10 miles from the finish. I let the guy I was riding with know I had enough to drink and nothing in the tank. My 2:1 gear ratio had finally taken its toll on me. I was concerned if I stopped, it’d take a fork lift to get me on my bike again. So I rolled right past the aid station. The single track started almost immediately afterwards. Luckily it seemed to be more downhill than up but, my legs were toast. Any climb that required me getting off the saddle got walked. Anything technical, again, walked. The rider that hit the aid station with me caught me nearly immediately. I think he ended up putting 7 minutes on me in the last 10 miles. Thankfully, there were more 100k riders on the trail so, there were riders to chase. The distraction really helped. Though it excruciatingly difficult (probably the hardest 10 miles on a bike of my life), the last 10 miles actually passed rather quickly. I rounded a corner and could see Mohican Adventures. Unfortunately, as they had done many times in the past on the course. They directed the course up more climb, then across the stream and eventfully across the finish. I was exhausted but, very happy with my finished when I looked up and saw that I was near 9 hours. I had decided about ½ through the race anything under 10 hours would be a success. I hung around the finish and chatted with racers that I had recently finished with about the race. I was wiped and had put a 9:09. Good enough for 15th. Not too shabby for a washed up distance runner that only rides his MTB once every two weeks.
Post Race Party:
After riding back to the bed and breakfast, Bryan and I showered up and headed back to the finish to collect our drop bags, eat and sample some of fantastic Great Lakes Brewery beer on tap. I have to say I enjoyed hanging around after this race more than any other. May of the top riders were still hanging about to watch the awards and Bryan and I got a chance to meet some great people. I am interested in seeing some pictures of the race. I must have looked like death on two wheels at points during the race. Especially at the end.
Will I be back next year? Possibly? Will I be rocking the single speed? Probably going to take a challenge of my manhood or a request to pace or ride with another fellow single speeder.
Results
Short Version…
What a grueling course. It was packed full of the widest variety of terrain I’ve ever ridden. And who could forget, climbing. A ton of it. It was certainly a challenging course and day. Poor choices in what I put in my mouth and heat made it even tougher. It took everything I had to finish up the last 10 miles of single track. Overall, just finishing the race was extremely rewarding. Pulling off a near 9 hour time and hanging about after the race knocked it out of the park.
Long Version…
Pre-Race:
After a panic packing session and minor freak out over fear my bike was not fit to cover the distance Thurs., teammate Bryan Deal and I headed out after cutting the workday a little short on Friday. Thankfully, Loundonville, OH is only a 3ish hour drive. Even though I had to take a few work calls in the car, the drive seemed to work out of my pre-race jitters that had me squirming in my chair at the week wore on. We arrived in the knick of time and picked up our race numbers and drop bags. We had plenty of time to grab dinner and a beer or two at the Mohican Tavern and discuss drop bag strategy before a minimal amount of pre-race prep and lights out at the Blackfork Inn bed and breakfast. Which turned out to be a great place. Not only for the fact it was about ¼ mile from the start of the race but, the owner’s (Sue) hospitality, ice cold a/c and complementary ear plugs if the trains that ran near by. Which certainly wasn’t an issue on the either of the nights. It had been a long week at work. Lights out by about 11pm was no struggle.
Start:
Moments later, alarms were going off and after a snooze button or two, we were up and around. Breakfast and dropping off our drop bags at registration left us with an hour to spare before the start. Which raced by. Before we knew it, we were pedaling to the start. Since Bryan and I signed up, race strategy was going to be to ride together, just finish and have fun. We hadn’t discussed race strategy for about a week and I am pretty sure our conversation amounted to “ok, I’ll see you out there.” However, though was due to the fact that we had heard there was a good deal of flats on the course, on the SS, I’d likely be naturally faster on the climbs and considering Bryan is a dive bombing death machine on a geared bike, he’d likely catch me on the down hills and on the flats. Given my race strategy was “just finish and have fun” and I didn’t plan on going all out any time near the start, that was probably a decent plan. Bryan and I showed up roughly 5 minutes before the start and lined up near the rear. We were informed about a minute before the start that most of the 100k field was in front of us waiting to start 15min after the 100 milers. We did out best to work through the pack but, we didn’t make it far enough to the front. I am pretty sure we were the last two people to leave the line for the 100miler after fishing our way through remainder of the 100k racers ahead of us. So, that race strategy we worked on. Yeah, that didn’t last a mile. There is a pretty decent climb just about a ¼ mile from the start. Seeing the rate of climb I knew there was no way I wanted to hit it with zero momentum. So, I hit it with speed and rode up it off the saddle and probably put 50 people behind Bryan and I. I figured things would probably flatten out at the top or even better descend. Giving Bryan the chance to catch up. Wrong.
Start to Aid Station 2:
It wasn’t long before we were off road. It’s really tough to describe this section. It’s about 30 miles with some pretty technical sections. Log piles, rock gardens, some stream crossings, at least one hike a bike and lots of roots. Not to mention climbing. Lots of climbing. Then descending. Then more climbing. I think the only way I can describe it or put a frame of reference around it is riding Poto and Pontiac Lake back to back with more climbing and obstacles. I certainly wasn’t burning the candle at both ends but, I was catching and passing quite a few people just due to the fact I went with 2:1 gearing and the geared bikes were spinning away in granny gears on the slightest sign of ascent. For a guy that has been riding on a trail about once every 2 weeks, this section was tough. I was feeling really off in regards to my handling skills. I managed to pull off two endos. One on the first log pile. Which I going to blame on rider traffic and not having enough speed to clear it. The second was entirely my fault. I got hung up on a root in a corner and went right over the bars. When once I got up I realized that my bars had twisted all the way around and were locked by the fact I didn’t raise my brake levels high enough to clear the frame. It required use of my multi tool to loosen then retightened the lever and get things back in order. I later discovered I had been exchanging places with the 2nd place women for most of this section. After my crashes I was getting pretty cautious in the rougher sections. I found it easier to follow her and as literally ran away from me on the descents and I caught her on the climbs. All of the climbing and single track with little room for passing pretty much put a bullet in the plan to ride with Bryan. I was highly doubtful he had the opportunity to close up the gap.
Aid Station 2 to 3:
After some 40+ mph descent and a decent amount of climbing on some dirt roads just prior to aid station 2, I was excited to make my first stop of the race. I had made the mistake of only taking 2 water bottles at the start and not stopping at Aid station 1 to refill. Plus, I was basically out of gu, shot blocks and etc. I was thirsty and starting to get hungry. So, I drank and ate a little of everything that was there besides restocking and ensuring I left with 3 water bottles this time. Coke, Heed, Endurolytes, etc, etc. Now the first 30 or so miles were definitely tough but, even though it was nearly 100% road, the next 14-16 were honestly the toughest part of the race. At least from my perception climbing wise. By this time, I had thrown out my initial race strategy and like a whiny kid, I was honestly upset I put a big scratch in my top tube when I drug my brake lever over the top of it during my second endo. And for some sadistic reason, I love climbing. Pedal mashing, leg burning, shoulder cramping, wind sucking climbing. So, I let it hang out a little more than I should have. I rode every one but, one climb until the next aid station. Which I didn’t make it up due to traction.
Aid Station 3 to 4:
I had no intention of stopping at aid station #3 when Bryan and I prepped a bag for it. I figured it’d be a good “just in case” decision. Boy was I glad did. I had already knocked back two water bottles in my fit of climbing. Primarily because my stomach was rather upset from the mess I put into it at aid station 2. I asked to have my water bottles filled with just water and rolled out. By then it had gotten pretty hot. The aid station was approx. 46 miles in and I figured that it was time to see what I had in the tank. So I mashed up the hill that immediately followed the aid station passing a guy in an ASU jersey and another rider. As soon as, we hit the single track (again up hill) I realized I my legs were fried. So, I hopped off and walked it. The single track portion of this stetch seemed grueling. I felt like I had very little left in my legs so, I walked most anything uphill and remotely technical. I rode most of the leg with Ryan (guy in the ASU jersey). We eventually got out of the single track. We seem to both feeling about the same and riding/walking the same sections. Turns out he’s also from Michigan and is running the GLR (http://greatlakesreleay.com) this July. I was glad to have him around. I think we kept each other moving. Eventually, we got onto the road and things got easier. At that point, I realized if the race was indeed 100 miles of single track, there was no way I would have been able to finish. We were probably about 60 miles. I was honestly worried there was going to 40 miles of single track ahead.
Aid Station 4 to 5:
At this point the race is a bit of a blur. Aid station 4 was approx. 72 miles into it. I ditched my spare tube at this point so, I could carry more food and was still riding with Ryan from ASU. I also believe we caught a guy in an orange bike barn jersey and we rode together a bit. Could have been just before it. Things are pretty fuzzy at this point. This stretch had some monster hills I had to walk but, if my somewhat delusional memory servers me, it had a good 10 or 15 miles of rail to trail/roads. This terrain felt effortless for me to spin on when I was seated. I dropped everyone I was riding with and picked off a few single speeders in the process as well. Which I admit got my spirits high and motivation up. I stopped in at the unofficial mile 80 aid station, refilled on water and kept rolling. Picking off people along the way. I was geeked I hadn’t run into much, if any single track. I still felt like I had nothing left if I mashed off the seat but, great if I could stay in the saddle. At this point I started to get mixed in with some 100k riders. Which again gave me someone to catch & pass. I caught and traded positions with another 100 miler for at least 10 miles. Oddly, I’d pass him on the flats and he’d catch me as a walked hills.
Aid Station 5 to Finish:
Aid station 5 was approx. 10 miles from the finish. I let the guy I was riding with know I had enough to drink and nothing in the tank. My 2:1 gear ratio had finally taken its toll on me. I was concerned if I stopped, it’d take a fork lift to get me on my bike again. So I rolled right past the aid station. The single track started almost immediately afterwards. Luckily it seemed to be more downhill than up but, my legs were toast. Any climb that required me getting off the saddle got walked. Anything technical, again, walked. The rider that hit the aid station with me caught me nearly immediately. I think he ended up putting 7 minutes on me in the last 10 miles. Thankfully, there were more 100k riders on the trail so, there were riders to chase. The distraction really helped. Though it excruciatingly difficult (probably the hardest 10 miles on a bike of my life), the last 10 miles actually passed rather quickly. I rounded a corner and could see Mohican Adventures. Unfortunately, as they had done many times in the past on the course. They directed the course up more climb, then across the stream and eventfully across the finish. I was exhausted but, very happy with my finished when I looked up and saw that I was near 9 hours. I had decided about ½ through the race anything under 10 hours would be a success. I hung around the finish and chatted with racers that I had recently finished with about the race. I was wiped and had put a 9:09. Good enough for 15th. Not too shabby for a washed up distance runner that only rides his MTB once every two weeks.
Post Race Party:
After riding back to the bed and breakfast, Bryan and I showered up and headed back to the finish to collect our drop bags, eat and sample some of fantastic Great Lakes Brewery beer on tap. I have to say I enjoyed hanging around after this race more than any other. May of the top riders were still hanging about to watch the awards and Bryan and I got a chance to meet some great people. I am interested in seeing some pictures of the race. I must have looked like death on two wheels at points during the race. Especially at the end.
Will I be back next year? Possibly? Will I be rocking the single speed? Probably going to take a challenge of my manhood or a request to pace or ride with another fellow single speeder.
Results
June 03, 2011
Mohican 100 In Less Than 24hours
Departure time is 3pm for the Mohican 100 tomorrow.
Wish me luck and that things stay dry.
- Am I prepared physically? No.
- Do I have a strategy for the race? No.
- Do I have a plan for hyrdration and nutrition? No.
- Is the bike ready? I hope so. Pretty sure it should have gotten a new chain and some brake pads before the race. Possible the ebb disassembled & cleaned as well. Gonna ride with fingers crossed.
- Am I freaking out? Totally.
- Am I excited? Hell Yes.
- Most importantly, I hope 2:1 gearing is not going to result in a death march/ride.
May 14, 2011
Dyno Day @ The Car Guys Garage
Got a chance for a little high octane, high horse power fun this morning at The Car Guys Garge in Pinckney, MI. My dad brought his car down for a little tuning on the dyno with hopes some small changes and tuning would be enough for him to break the 9 sec barrier in the 1/4 mile this season. It was a pretty eventful morning. Unfortunately, not for good reasons. I had to make run up to Discount Tire due to a screw in the side wall of my dad's trailer. Plus the car was missing pretty significantly on the first pull and the rest of the time I was able to spend at the shop was primarily used up chasing down the miss that continued occur around 6000rprm. Plugs, cap, rotors, wires etc. Plus, a jet change in the carb were all attempted. I did get a chance to watch a 1/2 dozen or so pulls. Which was a pretty cool sight and a near deafening experience. Even with the missing, the car was still putting down a solid 600hp to 630hp at the rear wheels on each pull.
Here is video and some pictures I snapped at the operation. In case you are wondering, that's a 1967 Chevy II Nova with a 572 cubic inch motor. The motor put out 958hp on a motor dyno before it was put in the car. All motor. No turbo, super charger or nitrous. The pictures don't due it justice. Especially, because I took them on my phone. It's probably one of the nicest car's I've ever seen. And I'm not saying that just because it's my dad's car. The orange car is the shop sponsored car. I beileve I overheard it runs mid 7's in the 1/4 mile.
Here is video and some pictures I snapped at the operation. In case you are wondering, that's a 1967 Chevy II Nova with a 572 cubic inch motor. The motor put out 958hp on a motor dyno before it was put in the car. All motor. No turbo, super charger or nitrous. The pictures don't due it justice. Especially, because I took them on my phone. It's probably one of the nicest car's I've ever seen. And I'm not saying that just because it's my dad's car. The orange car is the shop sponsored car. I beileve I overheard it runs mid 7's in the 1/4 mile.
May 13, 2011
Not so much Mud, Plenty of Sweat, Lots of Beers
Looks like Blogger is back in action after a short stint of technical difficulties.
The 2nd edition of Mud, Sweat and Beers went into the books this past weekend. This year's race was even better than last year's. The large start groups were broken up into smaller waves, the course was marked extremely well and left no doubt on which direction should be taken, the course was pretty much a legit 20 miles, there was an addition of quite a bit of single track, a mud pit was added to the finish and beer tents, bars within and food stations were multiplied. All of this not only made for a great race but, post-race experience. The weather forecast looked to be chilly but, the sun came out and temps climbed comfortably into the 50’s. I was happy to try out our new team shorts.
I am not going to lie. My race performance was nothing better than lousy. My start was fantastic. I shot out off the line and tucked into 3rd. A position I knew was doubtful I could retain. However, it kept me out of traffic in the narrow, winding start. The first section of the race is rather sandy and very hilly but, wide open trail. On one of the first down hills another single speeder decided he wanted around me, made a pass, jumped onto the best line in front of me (the line I was following) and almost immediately went down in the only muddy spot on the entire course. In the excitement, I tapped my front brakes in the attempt to avoid the yard sale and went down right behind him. Luckily, we didn’t connect and it wasn’t a bad crash but, my acrobatic maneuver to avoid the other rider put my stem in my crotch. Ouch! After shaking off the pain in my "groin area", I realized the largest, sandiest climb was now staring me in the face. I made an attempt to run up the hill as waves of riders passed me. To be specific, 14 single speeders and unknowly, at least one of the women experts. The rest of the race was exactly as I remembered. Besides the addition of the single track, the course was either serious pedal mashing climbs with an immediate decent following or spinning out in long flat areas. I thought I was being wise switching to back to 2:1 gearing after Yankee felt like it pushed me close to death but, should have held out another race. I was way under geared. I found myself stacking up long lines of riders in the single track, holding my own and making some gains on the hills but, I was simply getting walked away from on the flats. I’d reel a fellow single speeder in within a few yards on the climbs, at points pass them on the down hills and then they’d simply pass me back and disappear from sight on the flats. The latter ½ of the race had so much flat stretches, I lost contact with all single speeders ahead of me. I was a little bummed most of the race considering I knew plenty of single speeders passed me in the beginning and I knew even 10th place was out of reach. However, I had thought I caught and passed the lead expert woman in the early single track sections. That wasn't the case. 2 more slipped passed me at somepoint. Most likely at the wall considering I opted not to walk up it and took the winding route through the notched trees. I almost made it up whole thing until a rider got their bars wedged in between trees. I certainly was not nearly as spent at the end of the race this year as last. I remember the last climb feeling next to impossible last year. I cruised up it with ease this time around flashing the thumbs up to former highschool and college teammate Joel Gaff who was snapping pics. The mud pit at the end was pretty uneventful. I was in a pretty cheery mood considering I thought I had finished in front of the expert women and attempted to hit the deep end of it. Which turned out to be the shallow end. I am hoping to find a picture of it. I got all freaked out just before hitting it thinking I had too much speed and was going to endo. I am pretty sure the look on my face was priceless.
The post race festivities didn’t disappoint. Fellow teammate Bryan Deal made the trip up with me. We hung out with my childhood through college friend Sam & Brent Sheffer. We enjoyed some of Sam’s famous home brew, some of Traverse City’s finest Right Brain micro brews and pulled pork sandwiches. Even though it never made it passed the 50's, I managed to get a little sunburn.
Will I be back next year? I certainly think so. My personal fear is the popularity of the race will increase and force the number cap to be raised to point it it’s simply not fun anymore. Like a similar race in November in the area. I am hoping that fact that parking is so limited will prevent such a tragedy from occurring. Unless the organizers loose all senses and think shuttling folks around is a good idea. There is even talk of friendly wagers on fastest time on a bike costing <=$50 next year.
The 2nd edition of Mud, Sweat and Beers went into the books this past weekend. This year's race was even better than last year's. The large start groups were broken up into smaller waves, the course was marked extremely well and left no doubt on which direction should be taken, the course was pretty much a legit 20 miles, there was an addition of quite a bit of single track, a mud pit was added to the finish and beer tents, bars within and food stations were multiplied. All of this not only made for a great race but, post-race experience. The weather forecast looked to be chilly but, the sun came out and temps climbed comfortably into the 50’s. I was happy to try out our new team shorts.
I am not going to lie. My race performance was nothing better than lousy. My start was fantastic. I shot out off the line and tucked into 3rd. A position I knew was doubtful I could retain. However, it kept me out of traffic in the narrow, winding start. The first section of the race is rather sandy and very hilly but, wide open trail. On one of the first down hills another single speeder decided he wanted around me, made a pass, jumped onto the best line in front of me (the line I was following) and almost immediately went down in the only muddy spot on the entire course. In the excitement, I tapped my front brakes in the attempt to avoid the yard sale and went down right behind him. Luckily, we didn’t connect and it wasn’t a bad crash but, my acrobatic maneuver to avoid the other rider put my stem in my crotch. Ouch! After shaking off the pain in my "groin area", I realized the largest, sandiest climb was now staring me in the face. I made an attempt to run up the hill as waves of riders passed me. To be specific, 14 single speeders and unknowly, at least one of the women experts. The rest of the race was exactly as I remembered. Besides the addition of the single track, the course was either serious pedal mashing climbs with an immediate decent following or spinning out in long flat areas. I thought I was being wise switching to back to 2:1 gearing after Yankee felt like it pushed me close to death but, should have held out another race. I was way under geared. I found myself stacking up long lines of riders in the single track, holding my own and making some gains on the hills but, I was simply getting walked away from on the flats. I’d reel a fellow single speeder in within a few yards on the climbs, at points pass them on the down hills and then they’d simply pass me back and disappear from sight on the flats. The latter ½ of the race had so much flat stretches, I lost contact with all single speeders ahead of me. I was a little bummed most of the race considering I knew plenty of single speeders passed me in the beginning and I knew even 10th place was out of reach. However, I had thought I caught and passed the lead expert woman in the early single track sections. That wasn't the case. 2 more slipped passed me at somepoint. Most likely at the wall considering I opted not to walk up it and took the winding route through the notched trees. I almost made it up whole thing until a rider got their bars wedged in between trees. I certainly was not nearly as spent at the end of the race this year as last. I remember the last climb feeling next to impossible last year. I cruised up it with ease this time around flashing the thumbs up to former highschool and college teammate Joel Gaff who was snapping pics. The mud pit at the end was pretty uneventful. I was in a pretty cheery mood considering I thought I had finished in front of the expert women and attempted to hit the deep end of it. Which turned out to be the shallow end. I am hoping to find a picture of it. I got all freaked out just before hitting it thinking I had too much speed and was going to endo. I am pretty sure the look on my face was priceless.
The post race festivities didn’t disappoint. Fellow teammate Bryan Deal made the trip up with me. We hung out with my childhood through college friend Sam & Brent Sheffer. We enjoyed some of Sam’s famous home brew, some of Traverse City’s finest Right Brain micro brews and pulled pork sandwiches. Even though it never made it passed the 50's, I managed to get a little sunburn.
Will I be back next year? I certainly think so. My personal fear is the popularity of the race will increase and force the number cap to be raised to point it it’s simply not fun anymore. Like a similar race in November in the area. I am hoping that fact that parking is so limited will prevent such a tragedy from occurring. Unless the organizers loose all senses and think shuttling folks around is a good idea. There is even talk of friendly wagers on fastest time on a bike costing <=$50 next year.
Did someone say beer?
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