Where did the year go?

Seriously? It was Xmas like two weeks ago, right? This year has been a blur to say the least.

Starting to set my sites on 2011 and already have a few race, personal and professional goals in my head. I was debating an appearance on the indoor track this winter but, I am fairly certain I am not going to have the time in December to put in the miles and the way my knee has been feeling lately, I am not very confident my body will be able to take a significant increase in mileage very quickly. So, I'll have to see how it goes. The Corktown 5k in March is looking a little more realistic at the moment. It's not only a great during and post race experience but, I would like redeem myself after my not so impressive race there last year. I haven't even looked at signing up and probably missed my chance but, Barry Roubaix is also on the list. I didn't get much of a chance to race my CX bike this year or any bike for that matter. It'd be nice to start the year off racing the CX bike. It's by far my favorite bike in my stable at the moment.

I am still kicking around the idea of trying to take on a series. I was strongly considering the Fun Promotions Endurance Series last winter. Still seems like a good idea. I could pretty easily throw in the Yankee TT and I'd have a season planned.

I've also given some though to what I am not planning on racing next year. At the moment, the Lumberjack and Iceman are at the top of the list. Lumberjack is a great event and I had a great showing in 2010 pulling off a 10th place in the SS category. However, my main reason for racing the LJ this year was to prove to myself I could do it in style on an SS after feeling like it pushed me to a near death state in 2009 on a geared bike. All of the drama with the Iceman concerning registration debacles, size of the field, age categories, start startegies, TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC, beer police, parking, buses, MMBA forum whining, requests for donations to purchase property to continue to allow the race to line pockets, etc, etc has really put some serious doubt in my mind that I want return next year. To top off the arguement, I can race Mud Sweat and Beers on much of the same course, without any of this drama. I am also strongly debating not running Dances With Dirt this year. DWD is also a great, fun filled, well run event but, putting together a team for it has been proving to be far too difficult. The $90 per person entry fee seems to scare most away. The rest of my "runner" friends seem to get widdled out due to fear that an entire day of trail running will somehow interfere with their highly scientific triathlon training.

This, of course, may all change when I watch my first indoor track meet this winter or attend the MMBA annual meeting.

I received my Iceman age group award in the mail yesterday. Still shocked I pulled this off considering my total lack of preparation for the race.

2010 Season Finale - Iceman

Well the 2010 race season is in the books. As usual, it was topped off with the biggest MTB race on the Michigan MTB racing scene, Iceman.

This hasn't been the year I was hoping it'd be as far as my cycling is concerned. I have put in barely any riding since Lumberjack. I had a short stint of running to prepare not to die for the GLR in mid July and then whole move to the new house essentially shut my cycling down. So, this year I was relying on natural talent and superior equipment.

My preparation for Iceman consisted of a 45 minute run, an hour spin on the trainer and about 100 push ups the week of the race. Never the less, I was geeked when Friday hit and Jason and I were loaded and rolling to my parent's place in TC. Iceman was looking to once again earn it's name as snow flakes started to fall as we neared Cadillac.

Later that night, the expo was hopping as usual. Jason and I picked up our race packets and made our rounds through the booths and filled out every raffle in sight. We headed off to Chili's and met up with a small contingent of the team for a pre-race meal and a few carbohydrate replenishing beverages. Then hit the sack.

It was COLD in the am before the race. I am not sure of the official temp but, it was, without a doubt in the 20's. I had literally brought all of my warm weather riding gear and made my gear decisions in the parking lot about 20 minutes before the race. Even debating rocking the Bar Mitts I picked up at the expo. Then headed to the start with little time to spare.

I ended up reaching the start about 5 minutes before my wave was going off, ducked under the rope and jumped in the back of the wave. My mood was incredibly light in comparison to last year. I didn't have much for expectations and no lofty goals like last year. The siren sounded and my wave was off.

This year's start was only slightly less chaotic than last year. I suspect primarily because I was only able to maintain 20-21mph and wasn't able to do much but, chase the back of the pack. Luckily, the group thinned out and there was no big crash when we first left the pavement. I am betting it helped to have volunteers waving and motion to the group to move over. Unfortunately, I got tangled up in a big pile up when a large group of riders grinded to a hault in the first sandy up hill. I was fortunate to have gotten knocked out of it versus going down in the middle, ran the hill, hopped on my bike and was on the way.

The rest of the race is can really be summed up in a few short sentences

• Frozen hands and privates
• Wrong gearing choice
• Upset stomach
• Frozen water bottles
• Wrong rear tire choice
• Lack of conditioning

To elaborate a little more, my hands started aching and going numb in after the first mile. My fingers felt like they were 3 inches in diameter for about 10 miles until they eventually warmed up. My private "member" on the other hand wasn't as luckly and is still sensitive at the moment. I went with 36/17 as my gearing choice. It was simply not enough gearing to hang with the pack and my race was filled with relentless, waves of geared bikes passing my on the flats while I struggled to maintain 18mph. Standing up and mashing was not possible due to the cadence I had to maintain to hit 18mph. For some reason, I decided to try some electrolyte tablets before the race and my output was not only regulated by my gearing but, the fact I felt sick to my stomach for the first 1/3 of the race or so. Which also could have been caused by my frozen "member." At about mile 5, I reached down to my water bottle hoping a drink would help with my stomach. Only to discover both of my water bottles were already 1/2 or more slush filled so, I end up getting two small drinks of fluid the entire race. The course was quite slick and even icy in spots. I was ok with a little two wheel drift here and there but, I ended up running, well walking, many of the hills due to lack of rear wheel traction. Next time, I'll throw on a studded rear tire if there is any snow on the ground. Last year Anita's Hill was where I went from racing to survival mode. Not suprisingly, it had the same effect on me this year. I tried running it but, ran out of steam about 1/2 way up and ended up shuffling to the top. Lack of training was certainly a factor but, I attribute much of my exhaustion and near locking up of my legs to the single track and places where passing was limited in the first 1/2 of the race. The idea of setting people off in waves based on their ability was certainly a good idea. In general, things did seem a little less congested and thinned out well in the start. However, starting in wave 3, I can tell there were certainly some people who beat the system and were seeded far above their ability. At least as far as single track riding is concerned. I felt like a pretty decent technical rider last year in the single track. Feeling like I was being held back some by many of the other riders but, this year was out of control. At times I literally felt like I was attempting track stands in the turns and having no momentum going into the short climbs really took a ton out of my legs early in the race.

So, all of the whining aside, I really enjoyed the fact that there was snow on the ground for the race. It may for some great scenery. There was certainly plenty of, white knuckle, icy sections of the course. Not mention the single track at the end of the race seemed to hold on to your tires as the weather warmed up and melted the snow.  However, it was great to have a real Iceman. I feel like a did a decent job of putting in a solid effort and leaving everything I had on the course. By the end of the race my legs were toast. I anticpate seeing a couple of picture of my running, well shuffling up hills towards the end. At the finish I was a pretty disappointed that I didn't break the 2 hour mark. However, looking at the pro's times and a sampling of other racers, the course was clearly longer and/or slower than last year. My goal last year was to put in a better time than entire women's field. Not because I don't like women but, those pro ladies are fast! So, putting up a time that's ahead of theirs is definitely part of the criteria for being a legit rider. Last year, I beileve 5 women were ahead of me. This year, it was only 2. One of which I managed to pass and hold off in the race, I am pretty sure beat me at mud sweat and beers earlier in the year. To top it off, I ended up taking 5th in the 32-33 age class. Not too shabby. So, this one is going in the books as a success.

So, in the end my only regret was that I didn't get to hang around much after the finish of the race.

Results

Garmin Data

I am still pretty hyped about the whole weekend and could probably blab on for awhile longer but, I'll try and wrap this up so, I can wrangle the kids into bed. Hoping I can start 2011 season with a bang like this year but, avoid the fizzle like 2010.

You've heard of the Dark Horse

Well, based on my total lack of training in any form, I am predicting the following at Iceman this year. I am the horse at mile 20.

Why I will not be fast at Iceman...

So, I am known to be a little over dramatic. Maybe exaggerate a little at times.  I've been venting quite a bit lately about all of the work I've been doing around the new house. However, if you stop over, you'd probably think it's all talk since little has been accomplished since we officially moved in, in late July. The new house fits the old onion analogy pretty well. Each time I start a job and peel back a layer, it exposes a new challenge or heatbreak. Let's take window painting for example. I crack open one open, well more like violently pry and suprise! Oh, don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks. It's actually worse. So my little painting job becomes a day of chiseling, measuring, sawing, nailing, sanding and caulking. 8 hours or so later, I am back on track.

So, Iceman is basically 5 weeks out. I had every intention of starting training today. I have not done any consistent training since July. Today I was greeted by blue paint all over the carpet and a broken furnace. Luckily, my dad teaches furnace repair and talked me through getting it going over the phone.

Guess Iceman training starts tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Ronde Van Stony

I had the pleasure of participating in the first and what I hope will be annual Ronde Van Stony race. Put on by my long time friend Mike Franko.
Pre-Race:
Things have been pretty busy for me lately and training in any way, shape or form has been pretty low on the priority list. So, I went into today's race with intention of having fun over everything else. Tom Sterling from the team and I met up at 6:45am at my new place and headed out the race together. Clearly we were on the team schedule because we ended up directly behind team manager, Brian Brown on the way out. To make things a little more interesting, we Trevor Terry, official honorary EMU Alumn and Ironman as soon as we exited it on Rochester road. We arrived at the race at about the same time as many other teammates on PrecisionMTB. Tom Payn, Jim Senska. Paul Mann and John Gonway rounded out the team. Melissa Mabry and Jimmie Colfesh showed up shortly after Tom, Trevor, Brian and I picked up our numbers. It was good to see everyone again. I haven't seen much of my cycling buddies lately so, my spirits were pretty high. High enough I didn't even curse when I dropped my Garmin on the ground and broke the display pinning on my number. I had it safely tucked in my jersey pocket. Clearly not safe enough. The sky was overcast and temperature was supposedly 50 degrees. But, it felt colder to me. We all made our clothing choices and began circling the parking lot to attempt to keep warm. The race was a mass, rolling start so, warming up turned out to be a pretty social and cool looking activity. The entire field was basically circling the parking lot with an occasional group breaking off to ride the finish. The other cool thing was it gave me the opportunity to ride with pretty much everyone on the team.
Race:
As mentioned, the race was mass, rolling start. I lined up with the Experts and tried to warm my already numb fingers by stuffing them under my armpits. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for me to gain feeling in my fingers before we were off. The start was pretty interesting. It felt very easy to me and I was pretty reluctant to put myself anywhere near the front. Mostly due to my concerns with my level of fitness but, also due to the fact the group was yo-yoing at little and I had to lock up the brakes a few times. At the start, Mike announced we'd head out about 1 1/2 miles before the race was one. The funny thing was, I didn't notice any change of pace so, I didn't know the race was on until we made the left into the two track trail. At that point, I figure out the race was on and was not happy with the position my tentativeness had put me in. I went right to work passing as many people as possible. Up off the saddle and mashing the entire time. Everyone I passed on a CX or MTB was seated and I was wondering if they were pondering how quick they would see the numskull burning himself up at the start again. The two track was pretty treacherous. There were ruts from trucks that would sneak up on you if you left the gravel two track. I had a couple of pretty good scares passing people but, avoided most of the wrecks the ruts and loose sand caused. I wasn't sure how much farther we had to go on the trail and could see a good sized group just ahead and decided that was where I needed to be and dropped the hammer to catch up. I was concerned if a group that size hit the dirt road and I was off the back, I'd surely never catch them. Soon after, a guy on a MTB that had either crashed or had mechanical issues attempted to mount his bike on the side of the trail. In doing so, literally road across the trail nearly blocking it. I called out an locked up the brakes and luckily avoided him. Unfortunately, it was only meters from the dirt road and I had really hammered to catch the group. There was a short but, steep incline just as we exited the trail onto the dirt road and I tried to put in a sprint. Unfortunately, there was nothing left in the legs at the moment. And I was all alone. Determined, I kept at it. Trying to convince myself if I kept at it, I'd catch them. However, the relentless, never ending hills had started and the wind wasn't helping. I kept pursuing the group but, they continued to gain. Eventually, I caught someone on a MTB and shouted to him to get on my wheel and I'd pull him along. Mostly because I was was hurting and hoped we could work together. He did take a couple of pulls for me but, mostly just for a short time when he caught me a the crest of a hill. Some where in the middle, I could see a PrecisonMTB jersey that had dropped off the back of the pack that I assumed was Tom. In my head I was thinking that if I did whatever it took to catch him that I'd be in good shape. The race was turning into a road race with drafting being a major factor and I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I was in a pack of two and doing most of the work, it was hard and not idea. My pack of two fruitlessly continued to attack to catch Tom. Unfortunately, soon after, I noticed that more riders had dropped off the group ahead of Tom and they were forming their own, decent sized attack pack. My pack of two continued to give chase but, Tom's group was gapping us and I was tiring quickly. At that point we must have been 8 or 10 miles. That's when another group of 6 to 8 MTB and CX riders caught my pitiful, faltering pack. A couple of guys went past like I was standing still. I stood up to try and keep up but, I could almost hear the screaming in my legs. I spent the next couple of miles jocking for position with the unorganized group that had past me. Strangely, the hills that were completely zapping my legs were where I was able to make up any distance that group put on me. We rode that way for awhile until the group shrunk to about three CX bike and two MTB's. From there it was pretty much a routine of MTB riders from the Wolverine team and I taking pulls on the front. Occasionally, we'd drop to the rear and demand the other riders take a turn. At some point we picked up another MTB rider from the Wolverine team and lost the other MTB rider in the group. We movd along at a decent pace. But, the hills never ended. At some point, someone in the group made the comment that he couldn't wait until we stopped climbing because the downhill was going to be amazing. Clearly, he was not from area. Because the hills, choppy, bumpy roads never let up. Nor did the wind. Which always seems to be coming directly at you. When we hit the gravel two track towards the end of the race, our group literally fell apart. The Wolverine MTBer and I gapped the whole group almost immediately. I noticed right away the 700X35cm tire on my CX bike were nowhere near a anchored in the gravel as what I would have expected an MTB to be. I called out to the MTBer of go for it and that he didn't need our group any more. He reluctantly surged ahead. He started to gap me as I slowed in the corners after a couple of two wheel drifts gave me more surges of adrenaline and made me decide not to dare crashing anymore. The hills saved me from getting left but, one of the guys on a CX bike from our group passed both MTBer and I on the trail. He was older but, clearly more daring than I. After the loose, steep hill on the trail my legs were toast. I was proud I rode it and the MTBer and person ahead of him walked it. I passed the MTBer I was rider with when he had some mechanical issue but, he came screaming past me soon after. I ended up passing him when he slowed to ride with another Wolverine ride on a CX bike we caught. At that point, I was still rather close to the other rider on a CX bike from our group that had passed us. We exiting the two track I was happy to get on the hard packed roads again. That was until I realized the my tank was basically empty. My legs were finished. I dropped a few gears with hopes that my legs would recover but, the hills were back and made sure that my plan was thwarted. The CX rider from my group steadily pulled away from me. We rode up the road always and made a right turn. At that point the CX rider still looked catchable when a long, fast downhill started. I shifted to my tallest gear and was mesmerized with my speed of 30+ mph. So much so, when I finally looked up enough to see if I had gained any ground, the other rider was completely gone out of sight. I saw "Finish" painted on the ground and Mike standing at the end of the straight away waving me into the turn. I made the right hand turn and struggled through the long grass to the finish. I must have looked like I was out for a leisure ride as I crested the hill to the finish. I was toast. I definitely left it all out there.

Based on the results, looks like I pulled out 1:49 for 35th out of about 135 riders. Not bad for just showing up to participate. My Giant TCX performed flawlessly. To be honest, I am suprise I didn't bend a rim or cause some other form of damage hitting pot holes at 25+ mph.

Results

Garmin Data
The course was great. The weather was a little cold and the wind didn't help. I can't think of a better adjective than "relentless" to describe the hills. Which made for a challenging and rewarding day. However, I am getting a little PO'd I broke my Garmin.

It was also great to see Mike's family and Joel Gaff out on the course. I wasn't able to stay too long after the race and everyone was busy tallying results and breaking the course down so, I didn't get a chance to talk to them too much.

Lee Shaw reminded me that Iceman is only 6 weeks away. I have a ton of work to do if I want to come anywhere near my time last year. Especially, considering I am planning on riding the SS.

Been Busy

Well, more than two months have came and went since I last posted anything on my blog. A ton have things have happened since then with even more life events materializing.

Besides work being busy as all get out, here's the best summary I have time for.

Lumberjack was almost a complete success. Besides the fact my new bike has been out of comission since due to a horrific creak that developed during the race, I crossed the line 10th in the Single Speed class in just under 8 hours. A whole hour faster than I could have ever hoped for. Besides the great finish, the weekend was a real blast, hanging out in Lee's camper with Tom and Bryan

Lumberjack Results

Lumberjack Garmin Data -- Apparently, I didn't have enough finger strength to stop my Garmin at the end of the race. I hit the stop but, I was too happy to be done and too tired to care enough at the finish to ensure it was stopped.

Lumberjack Basecamp

From Been Busy

Post race. Dirty, Tired and Very Happy to be finished.

From Been Busy

So, this is where things got rough and haven't let up since. The next 4 weekends were pack, pack, move & move again. With major help from my mom, dad and a cast of family character, we moved into my grandpa'shouse (now ours) and then the following weekend, moved my grandpa into his new place. Our new house needs a ton of work. Other than a new roof, you name it, it needs it. Best of all, it's got leaks in the basement. Something I was hoping to leave behind at our last house. However, it's got a lot of "potenial." Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

At our old house during the first trip. It was over 80 degrees both of the weekends we moved. I am not sure how the grass looks green in these pictures. It was fried.

From Been Busy

Thank goodness for my dad's 26ft enclosed trailer and 3/4 ton, diesel Chevy. I think we took 6 loads in all over 3 days. Not sure. At some point, I became delirious. Could have been more.

From Been Busy

Picture of the new place. Just looking at how many trees need to get cut down and bushes need to be trimmed makes me wince but, it's a pretty sharp looking place.

From Been Busy

New house is complete with Pink Kitchen and pretty much else.

From Been Busy

Not to mention a Safari Bathroom.

From Been Busy

The next weekend, it was time for the single greatest running weekend ever, the GLR. As the volunteered captain this year and with the major help of the Chad Wines, we cobbled together an EMU & Pickney Pirate Alumni team with the addition of a super fast, recent Michigan State graduate, young lady. Party, Camp, Run & Fun was the theme of the weekend. Matt, Nick, Chad, Paul, Steve, Joey, Ace, Scott, Sarah and I pulled out an impressive performance mixing it up with pretty much all but, the top two teams throughout the weekend and pulled off a 6th place team overall finish. We all may still be recovering from post GLR depression. Can't wait until next year. I have lots of pics but, they are all loaded up in my facebook profile. So, you are out of luck unless you are a facebook addict.

GLR Results

The following weekend brought another EMU tradition, the Tigertown5000. After a late night on the town in Liberty Center, OH, I pulled off a pitiful 12th place finish. Unable to catch the lead woman. Still a great weekend seeing some of my EMU alumni friends. There links to pictures of the race on the Tigertown website. I look better than I felt that day.

I didn't take any pics other than the following this weekend. To give you an idea of how rural Liberty Center is, this is a snapshot I took of pets kept right in the front yard.

From Been Busy

The next weekend, I tried to tackle the first of the end list list of projects at the new house. Sanding a few rusty spots on the garage doors exposed an unbelievable amount of rust hiding just under the surface. The weekend project ran into the week, late nights and even resulted in a dead car battery on one occasion. To date, I think I have over 30 hours into the doors and just one coat of paint on the outside of them. I think I snuck a BTT Epic ride in that weekend. However, it's hard to remember.

A pic to give you an idea of how much rust was uncovered. At this point, I had covered it with Rustoleum Heavy Rust Primer. The inside was much worse. Nice basketball net huh?

From Been Busy

I ended up painting most of the garage in the dark during the week and barely finished for our trip out of town.

From Been Busy

Next up was a week in Montreal with the in-laws, extended family and friends. Topped off with a weekend in Gatineau, hanging out around the pool.  Driving, driving, driving and socializing were the themes of the week but, definitely a great time. Maybe the best trip yet. I really need a vacation from the vacation. I am beat.

This weekend is what will hopefully be a relaxing one at the lake and camping in Lewiston at my grandfather's cottage. Unfortunately, more driving.

The last two months have left me run down and ragged. In fact, I think I am getting sick. Especially, after hill repeats on Hines Dr. with Meliss and Jim last night. I am hoping to emerge from all of this insanity in September. It's been great spending time with my family but, I don't think I can keep up for much longer and simply have too much to do on the new house before winter. So, it has to. Plus, I'd really like to do some riding again. My riding & running has been extremely hit and miss since early June.

One dirty girl

On somewhat of a whim, after what I can only imagine was 6 inches of rain last night and slight drizzle this morning, Tom S., Melissa M., Jimmie C. and I decided to hit IRLA. One blue and one yellow was all we could stand. What much of the trail was in ok shape. All of the usual spots were still holding water and muddy. We did what we could to avoid the bad spots but, still ended up pretty muddy.
 
The new bike road fantastic. Still a little dialing in to do. The wide bars gotta go.

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The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy.