Conasauga Crusher Race Report

Getting stoked to ride in rain/mud all day!

So how many of you racers checked your inbox when you awoke, praying for an email that said the course would be shortened due to inclement weather?  I searched but found nothing.  Had it not been for wanting to support Lisa, I probably would have bailed.  It had already rained at least an inch during the night and it was not projected to stop until 3pm.

#enhancedweather

At least I had made preparations the day before to try to waterproof myself.  Shower cap (a not so pro tip I learned at the 2007 La Ruta), latex gloves, Gore Tex shorts, and a Gore Tex jacket.  At least the temps were not too terrible, 50-55 degrees.  If I could keep my core, fingers, and toesies warm, I had a chance of having a semi-fun day.  The shower cap works well for me in that it keeps the rain from running down into my eyes and is not hot like a cycling cap can be.

We rolled out of the Ocoee Retreat Center at Lisa's "neutral-ish" pace, which had my HR pegged at the first little hill.  After turning right onto the main paved road, I tucked in behind Amy.  Now she is a beast!  Had it not been for her bouncing on her head down the backside of Addis Gap during the Georgia Gravel Grinduro, she would have schooled all of us ladies on gravel racing.  I was hoping to just hang onto her wheel as long as I could.  Well, that lasted about 10 minutes.  She slowly rolled away from me on the first climb after we hit gravel.  I knew my limits and did not want to completely implode within the first hour, so I just had to settle into my own rhythm and hope for the best.

Just add fog, rain, and leaf cover.

FS 302 was still fast despite the rain and the leaves.  Traction was good and the road bed was firm, making for quick work of this section.  But then FS 1333 ... oh, how I loathe you!  This was a 4 mile section of double track with lots of sharp turns and loose chunky rock.  It was also a little bit sloppy.  And complicating matters were my glasses fogging up. I did not want to take them off because at least they were keeping the mud out of my eyes. My lower back was beginning to hurt and whenever I would try to get out of the saddle to give it some relief, my rear wheel would spin out over a loose rock. Finally I saw the intersection of FS 55 and was able to escape this "gravel purgatory."

The next two miles were downhill to flat, so I was able to stretch out my back and eat/drink.  I whipped out my gel flask and sucked down some needed calories.  I kept the flask tucked in my bra so as to make for easy extraction:  try to fight a rain jacket to get to your flask in a jersey pocket and you will know why I chose this option.  It also kept the gel warm and fluid.

Not needing anything at Aid #1, I threw a friendly wave to Paul, and began the 1.5 mile slog up to the start of the Big Frog section.  At least the ground was firm. I stopped at Zeke's truck at the intersection and cleaned my glasses.  Then I began the 10 mile loop of pain.  This is the hardest section, as it is chunky and has a 3 mile climb, followed by a treacherous, rutted and rocky descent ... now covered in leaves. Despite my back becoming cranky again, I turned off all emotions and just gutted it out.  I told myself that once I got through this part, it would be easy-peasy to the finish. Yeah, I lied, but sometimes necessary in order to get into the right mindset.

Halfway through, I heard a rattling on my bike.  Looking down, I saw that one of my bottle cages was just about to launch itself down the mountain.  Fortunately, I was able to stop, grab my multi-tool, and tighten the screws that had loosened.  The last few miles of this loop were mostly downhill and I was able to find some flow and punch some power coming out of the corners. Despite the weather, course conditions, and achy back, I was actually having fun!

A beautiful course with 6500 feet gain in 52 miles

I made a hard right onto FS 221 and although the road was flat, there was plenty of energy sapping mud to knock the wind out of my sails.  My drive train was making all sorts of death wails.  I saw a rider ahead of me, so that became my carrot, allowing me to focus on him and not the road.  It took FOREVER for me to catch him, but I did, as the climbing began on Sheed's Creek Road.  He asked how far Aid #2 was and I think I popped his balloon when I answered 5 miles.

I welcomed the short bits of pavement.  The gravel section of this road had been recently graded and what with the heavy rainfall and hunter traffic, it was like pedaling through a milkshake (perfect wording, Chris!). I tried to find the firmest ground to pedal, but the descents were super sketchy.  I would be riding on hardpack only to suddenly find myself hitting a section (always in a turn) where it would turn to soup.  I learned quickly to let go of the brakes and trust my front wheel to find the way.

I stopped at Aid #2.  Jayden kindly refilled my bottle while Kathleen helped me clean my glasses.  I kept the stop short, so as not to give my legs any indication that the day was over.  I managed to keep pace with another racer on a MTB.  He had a strong steady pace, a little more painful than what I really wanted to endure, but endure I did.  My back pain had eased up some, and I was able to apply more power to the pedals.  With firm ground beneath me again, I was able to stand and pedal when the grade dictated.  This switching between seated and standing afforded me a little more oomph to get over the climbs.  We then caught up to Chris (whom I had met at Pine Log a few weeks back).  Together the three of us pushed each other to the finish (misery loves company!). 

I rolled through the finish line with a time of 4:37:57, 2nd woman and 18th overall. This was a great way to end the season, knowing that I still have the grit, gristle and gumption to persevere in less than ideal conditions.

Hmmm ... maybe this was why I had squealing brakes and less than stellar stopping power.

All in all, this is a nice addition to the Chainbuster Gravel Series.  Lisa pulled out another great race despite the horrid conditions.  I do hope that this one will continue, although perhaps moving it up a month or two might attract more racers and better weather.  The venue is awesome (bike wash, hot showers, beer, and food), the course is beautiful and punchy, and schwag and prizing are abundant.

Kudos to all those who toed the line and to the volunteers who also had to endure yucky conditions!

Old Capitol Classic Race Report

Having not been on single track since the first of February when I went to Florida and seeing the forecast for this weekend ... cold and wet, I decided to suffer the drive through Atlanta and race the Old Capitol Classic.  This was the second race in the Chainbuster 3/6 hour series.

Not sure which one to do and with The Snake finale the following weekend, I would let my legs tell me during the pre ride.  I rode my SS with a 32 x 17.  Within the first 4 miles, I knew I did not have a big enough gear.  This course was pancake flat and fassst!  The course was a 50/50 mix of ribbon like single track through pine forests and straight aways on double track.  After finishing my pre ride, I knew I did not have the mental fortitude to race for 6 hours, so I chose the 3 hour race.  I was also thankful that I brought my geared hardtail as a back up, as it was now my primary weapon.

I got a wonderful night's sleep, yet when I checked my HRV (heart rate variability) in the morning, it was extremely low ... as in, my app told me that the day would be better spent resting.  Uggh!  Not good.  Last year I added HRV to my toolbox; just another way to analyze my fitness and recovery.  It has been very predictable and when I saw my number for the day, my heart sank a little.

But, the day was going to be glorious no matter how my body responded.  Sunny and warm!  I have not seen those two together in quite a while.  Start time was 10:15.  When the horn went off, the dude in front of me couldn't get clipped in.  That led to a hesitation in my pedal stroke, and then I couldn't get clipped in either.  I laughed inwardly, got it together, and then hammered up the parade lap hill.  Towards the top of the hill, I thought was heart was going to rip through my rib cage!  This, being only my second race of the season, I was not used to this XC start.

I made it into the woods first woman.  Going through the first pine straw corner, I heard the racer behind me eat dirt.  Glad to have escaped that carnage, I pushed myself hard the first couple miles just to see how my body felt and perhaps get a gap on my competition.  Despite a solid warm up, my legs felt a bit heavy.

Any chance I got, I hopped on someone's wheel.  This was a roadie course, no doubt.  Anytime I could draft, I could conserve much needed energy.  When I hit the switchback powerline climb, I saw Angie and Danielle not far behind.  As I crested the top of this 0.3 mile climb, I slowed up a bit, realizing that the 15 second gap I had was not going to hold.  I focused on riding smoothly and staying off the brakes through this next section of flowing single track.

By the time I hit the second (0.75 mile) powerline climb, they were on my wheel.  That was when I knew this was going to be REAL.  I offered to let them by, but they were content to stay where they were.   When we entered the last 1/2 mile of single track, which was technical with lots of roots and short ups/downs, I tried to establish another gap.  While I was faster on the descents, they were able to get back on my wheel on the climbs.

After popping out of that single track, we came through the start/finish area.  It was here that they passed me.  Danielle stopped momentarily, but Angie didn't.  I hopped on her wheel, hoping that I had the legs to stay with her for 2 more laps.  Danielle bridged back to us quickly.  I settled into third behind Danielle.

I was in a hard spot.  This course did not play into my strengths at all.  I was definitely not used to pedaling with force continually.  I needed there to be more roots and rock gardens to slow these ladies down!  I could hang in their draft on the open double track and through the ribbons of single track, but whenever there was a bit of an uphill or we had to pass a slower rider through the single track, I would pop off their wheel and have to dig deep to hop back on.  I was running out of matches quickly; heck, it seemed like the ones I had were wet anyways!

Towards the end of the second lap, I got stuck behind a dude in the rooty single track.  Once I lost sight of Angie and Danielle, I lost my mental focus, and allowed myself to just settle in behind this guy.  I told myself I would catch them in the transition area.  My legs were screaming at me as I climbed the short hill through the transition area.  It was here that I lost my mental game.

Lap 3 was a mini Death March. I tried to will my legs to work, but on the "hills" I thought they were going to seize up.  I managed to catch glimpses of Angie and Danielle through the first 4 miles, but then they were gone.  I fought against my inner demons, determined to "not give up," hoping that they would blow each other up and I could scavenge a 2nd place, perhaps even a first.

That last powerline climb, tho'!  That is not even a hill by my definition, but that third time up it, OMG!  How could something with only a 4% grade almost crush my soul?  I was hurting so bad at the top, I had to laugh at myself!

I finished 3rd overall 1 minute 20 seconds down.  I wished I could have stayed with Angie and Danielle, because it would have been cool to see their sprint finish, with Danielle besting Angie by a wheel.  Even so, Angie went out for a 4th lap.  Kudos to her for trying, but she ran out of time.

Although this course was not technically demanding, it was brutal.  This was a good early season test for me.  I now know what I need to focus on ... muscular endurance.  Thank you Danielle and Angie for kicking my arse!  This was a great motivational lesson for me.

Green Gobbler 6 Hour Race Report

Photo Credit:  Captions by Mary

This was the second race in ChainBuster Racing's Southeastern Endurance Cup.  I am using these races as prep work for Marathon Nationals (Single Speed division). The courses are very similar to what I will be racing on in Augusta in June:  fast and flowy to tight and twisty with little elevation gain.

After completing a power test a couple weeks ago and hitting an FTP that I had not seen in well over a year and a half, I was ready to put this wattage gain to a real world test.  So I threw on a cog one gear harder than I have used in the past at Conyers and was pleasantly surprised during my pre ride. I was able to clean the climbs and go a bit faster on the flats.

Race day was going to be hot!  I do love the heat and humidity, but only after being able to acclimate. One day is not quite enough. I prepared my bottles accordingly, adding Elete Electrolytes to my Torq energy drink.  The guys at Torq would most likely say that their product contains just the right amount of electrolytes, but after having lived in this body for 47 years and pushing it to its limits for the past 15 years, I know what works for me ... and keeps the cramps at bay.

Here is a summary of how the race went for me:

Lap 1:  Running a 32/19 made it a bit easier for me to enter the single track in a decent postition.  At this point I knew there was at least one woman in front of me, possible two.  Not burning any matches, I passed when the trail opened up.  The flat sections I used to refuel and spin the legs out. The two climbs were a 4/10 on the pain scale.

Lap 2;  A friend told me I was a minute and a half behind first.  Whoa! Either that chick was crazy fast and powerful, or (I was hoping) she burnt a few matches.  I did not change my game plan, but continued to cruise along, knowing that consistency is key, and the single speed makes it easy to be consistent.  I began to feel the heat on this lap ... and drank accordingly.  The two climbs were still a 4/10, and I passed several SS'rs who were pushing.

Lap 3:  As I passed through the transition area, my friend said that I had closed the gap on first a little.  The fisherwoman came out in me: time to slowly reel her back in.  I stopped briefly, swapped out bottles, and motored on.  Feeling the flow of the trail, it seemed like I was on autopilot.  The first two laps had warmed the legs and they found their happy place.  The two climbs were still a 4/10. Towards the end of this lap, I caught up to first.  I could tell by her posture that she was hurting.  I slowed a bit, wanting to be cat-like and watch for weakness.  She pulled away during the final 10 mile flat sandy stretch to the start/finish area (it was only 1/2 mile, but for a SS'r, seems to go on forever).

Lap 4:  I had to now stop by my pit area each lap as I was downing a 24 ounce bottle each lap.  I caught back up to first, made some small talk, and then slowly pulled away.  I was still in my happy bubble on this lap, and began to start making the mental calculations of how many more laps I was going to have to do.  3-4 more were going to be necessary.  The two climbs jumped up on the suffering scale, now a 5/10.  After passing through the start/finish and seeing that I was 4:03 into the race, I knew I had to do 3 more.  So I chugged my traditional Red Bull, and awaited my "wings."

Lap 5:  It was here that I began noticing the little pains:  low back, left big toe, outside of my right foot.  I began to feel every little bump and root on the trail.  What I thought was pretty smooth in the beginning now became teeth chattering.  Tons of braking bumps on the descents began to annoy me! To take my focus off the pain, I began to talk to people as I came upon and passed them.  I was very surprised at the women.  I followed one on a long descent who was buttery smooth through the corners.  And I admired those that fought for every inch of trail on the two long climbs.  At this point those climbs jumped up to 7/10 and it was about all I could do to turn over the pedals ... but I did.

Lap 6:  I felt pretty confident in maintaining first as long as I did not have a mechanical.  I had lost sight of second place in the twists and turns of the course.  I now just focused on riding smooth, especially through the creek crossings, which caused many flats on the day.  I noticed that each lap the line through the creeks changed as rocks were flung about.  The climbs jumped up another notch in intensity to 8/10, mostly due to fatigue, but they were also getting a bit chewed up, and finding traction got harder.

Lap 7:  I was now 7 minutes ahead of second and at least could rest a little easier mentally.  The last lap was relatively enjoyable.  All the body pains diminished in intensity and I focused on body position, carving the corners, and seeing how little I could use my brakes.  The long single track climb, I thought about going for it, but felt a twinge in the quads about 1/2 way up.  So I wisely chose to dismount and run up the last 30 yards.  I did manage to clean the powerline climb, but it was not a pretty site.  I hit my limit of pain at a 10/10.

I rolled through on my final lap in 5:19.  This was not easy.  The heat and taller gearing had me hurting at times, but with Coach Lynda's guidance, I had a perfect lead up in training to this race.  I am looking forward to burying myself in some L4/L5 work outs in the near future.

Sandwiched between a fast Floridian and Canadian

My power is coming back and I am feeling good about building up to my "A" race.  I definitely learned a hard lesson last year about overtraining.  It has taken me a full year to recover from digging a hole I almost did not climb back out of.  "Less is more" is my new motto.  No more back to back or back to back to back foolishness. Although I have been training less, the quality is better.  Recovery has been a bigger part of the picture as well.  I am turning into one of the "old people," who rise and set by the sun.  Pretty soon, I will be in the 4 pm supper crowd.

Stealing "cloud Pop Tart" from Karen Jarchow, as I am pretty sure I had the same feeling as her yesterday.

The other piece to this power puzzle is the functional fitness class I have been taking since December.  2-3 times per week, I take a 1 hour class that focuses on mostly body weight only exercises and high intensity cardio, although we do use barbells, dumb bells, and kettle bells, too.  I have seen tremendous gains in high power output.  I absolutely love this class and Coach Joshua is am amazing motivator.  I almost cannot take it when I have to cut these classes out during the week leading up to a race.

I must give a huge shout out to the local SORBA chapter for all the bridge work they put in to make this course fun and mudless.  My bike thanks you.  Eddie has done a wonderful job in getting sponsors who give away awesome, usable product.

Have I said how awesome Mulberry Gap is?

Looking forward to Fort Yargo in May!

Assault on Mount Curahee Race Report

Loving this February with bluebird skies and springlike temperatures.

This is Chainbuster Racing's first gravel race in the Southeastern Gravel Series, a 3 race series.  I had not planned on racing this one, but it fell perfectly within a training block.  There is no better way to suffer through a threshold work out than this, along with those of like minds and legs, so I made the journery over to the comfy, cozy little town of Cornelia last Saturday.

I began to doubt my weapon of choice, when I started seeing an unusually high number of mountain bikes.  I had taken Lisa Randall's advice and brought along my Industry 9 equipped Cysco.  Well, at the very least, it would be a good day of skills work.

The start was on tight, twisty narrow pavement, followed by a long descent.  Having not raced in a pack for some time, it was nerve-wracking.  I chose to back off and not fight for the top 20 positions in the first miles of the race.  Although only 36 miles long, there was plenty of time to make a push. I chose to await the gravel and the climbs.  Besides, my legs were slow to come around, what with the punishment they took earlier in the week.

When I hit the first bit of dirt road, the pack was still thick.  I slowly weaved my way through racers as they struggled with the stutter bumps, pot holes, and millions of sweetgum tree seed pods.  I saw more than one racer go down on Mother Nature's "marbles."

My legs came around after 8 miles and I was slowly able to reel in the women ahead of me.  I had no idea how many there were, but focused on putting the power to the pedals.  There was a 1 1/2 mile section of single track to keep things interesting.  It was pretty mellow, save for a deep creek crossing and a grunty climb afterwards.  Fortunately, there was a racer just ahead of me who was my "gauge" for how to approach the water crossing.  It was deep!  The water was above my cranks and hubs, but I powered through.  Then I  had to keep the hammer down to make the technical climb back up to the ridgeline.  Thank God I have been single speeding and could muster the strength to push the pedals over the top and keep the bike moving forward.

On the 1 mile climb up to the top of Mount Curahee, I envisioned myself in full battle gear with a 30 pound pack, M-16, and boots provided by the lowest bidder, shuffling up to the top (been there, done that at Fort Jackson, Fort Leonardwood, and Fort Bragg).  That mentally made it a helluva lot easier to claw my way up on a 18 pound bike.  On the way up, I saw two women in front of me.  Carrots!

Making my way back down the mountain was more difficult, what with all the stutterbumps.  I thought my eyeballs were going to rattle out of my head!  Finally a smooth surface, and my brain could quit sloshing back and forth in my cranium.  The next few miles were a mix of smooth gravel road and rolling double track.  Somewhere along mile 22, I began doubting as to whether I was still on course.  I was pretty sure I was, but not seeing any confirmation tape had me a little worried.  I hate this feeling as I tend to come off the gas a bit and spend more time looking at the road's shoulder rather than where I wanted my wheels to go.  Finally, I saw a large mud bog with enough bike tracks to convince me I was on course.

Soon afterwards, I saw a competitor up ahead about 30 seconds.  I put forth a little more effort, despite my legs disapproval. She was with another racer and staying tight on his wheel. I also had a partner and together we worked to reel them in. We would catch glimpses of them as the road straightened out and were gaining precious seconds.

At mile 28, we came to an intersection in the road with nary a sign.  Oh ... crap!  There were 3 possibilities.  I quickly dismissed the far left as it did not look well used.  So I was left with the opportunity to go left down the hill or go right up the hill.  After what seemed like an eternity, but was really only 20 seconds, I chose to follow my the racer I was working with down the hill.  For the next few minutes I was dreading having to climb back up this road if indeed it was the wrong way. Finally I saw a ChainBuster sign!

The gravel turned to pavement as we made our way through the Lake Russell Recreation area.  My cohort and I continued to work together, but I could tell he was tiring.  I about blew through the right turn up onto an old decommisioned road bed, thinking that the turn was further up ahead.  How I could think that despite ALL the signage there along with hay bales, I don't know.  I suspect it had something to do with a zone 5 heart rate.

We pulled each other up this road and then hit the main road back to town.  Still going up!  I could see her and her cohort again, still about 30-40 seconds ahead of me.  The climb was brutal and my partner popped off my wheel. I could dig no deeper and watched her crest the hill for the final descent back to town.

Thankfully I did not get stopped by the train (which came by a minute after I had crossed the tracks). I rolled under the Maxxis finishing banner in 2:33:23, 29 seconds behind her.  At this point I thought I was in third place, but when the results were posted, I was second!  I can only assume that one of the women who I saw bombing down Curahee Mountain had gotten off course.

Apparently some "waste of my oxygen" hooligans had taken down the course markings at the intersection at which I had stopped. There were many who had gone off course.  I really hate that this happened, but know that this possibility exists.  I was lucky I had chosen to go left as I had not pre ridden the course, nor had downloaded it to my GPS.  I know that Eddie was extremely frustrated and upset over this.  As much as it is up to him to do everything within his power to reduce the risk of shit like this happening, it is as much our responsibility to do everything within our power to know the course.  I am sure that next year Eddie will probably have more confirmation tape and perhaps send a volunteer out to drive the course and check the course markings the morning of the event.

Afterwards, all racers were treated to free Terrapin beer and an awesome meal at Natalie Janes, which I took home and my daughter devoured!

Cahaba 50 Race Report

Not really excited about camping out at the venue, but not wanting to pay upwards of $150-$200 for a one night hotel stay, I chose the lesser of two evils.  The Talledega 500 was this weekend as well and the hotels decided to cash in on it.

Thankful for mild conditions.

After a restless night of sleep, in which I determined my sleeping pad to be unacceptable for future camping trips, I rolled out of my tent, prepared some coffee by headlamp, and enjoyed the 60 + degreee temps.

Knowing there was the potential of a $100 bill awaiting me at mile 9.5, I had a good deep warm up. The race crowd was quite small and I was able to settle in the second row for the start.  A fast start had me spun out of my 30T chain ring on the flats.  I was still able to jump in the single track in the top 20 with Laureen breathing down my wheel. The trails were super loose and my speeds were, for once, not governed by my barking legs, but by my skills.  As I finished up the first sections of single track and popped out onto the Red Road climb, I no longer heard Laureen behind me.  With the pressure off, I settled into a pace I could hopefully sustain for the remainder of the race.

The ringing cowbell signaled the top of the KOM/QOM.  With John calling me out as the QOM winner, I took the next two miles along the ridge to recover and ready myself for Jeckyll and Hyde. Fall was definitely in the air and I breathed in the crisp fresh smell of fallen leaves.  A couple guys caught up to me as my heart rate was coming off my hummingbird high.  No worries, I caught back up to them along the technical Hyde section.  Happy for all 4 inches of travel, my Niner floated over the rocks, which had apparently grown in the past year.

Traction at last!

Hyde seemed effortless, but Jeckyll, on the other hand, had my legs burning with lactic on the short climbs.  I suppose the XC pace during the first 10 miles of the race had caught up to me.  With 35 miles still left to race, I needed to recover quickly in order to finish strong. Making myself eat and drink, I also spun a high cadence to try to flush my legs.  I also tried to ride efficient, using gravity and technique to roll pump track parts of the trail.

Popping out onto Pea Vine Road, my legs felt better.  The 3 mile climb back up the mountain on the paved road was not as suffery as I expected it to be.  Hitting the green-red connector over to Blood Rock, I was back in race mode.  This trail was really sketchy and I almost swapped ends a couple times.  The 20 or so yards leading up to the rocky drop on Blood Rock was by far the hardest section of the whole course.  The two tight switchbacks were littered with loose baby-head rocks that did their best to take the front wheel out from under me.  Blood Rock was the driest and easiest it has ever been.  And no one in my way this year ... small victory!

Caution = Fun!  Photo credit:  John Karrasch

Flying down the rest of this trail, I tried to make up precious time I had lost when my legs were hangry (heavy and angry).  Crossing Pea Vine Road, the volunteers let me know I had 4 to go.  I tried pushing it a little bit climbing up Johnson's Mountain.  I was going to have to stop and refill my CamelBak and did not know if Laureen was going to stop at the pits.  Finally cresting the top, I enjoyed dropping back down to the remaining 2 flattish miles to the Start/Finish area.  Rolling through the pits, my first lap was 2:09.  With 40 seconds of pit time, I was off for the second lap.

The first 10 miles was a grunty sufferfest.  Definintely much slower this time, I was running on fumes towards the top.  Rolling the ridge for the second time, I kept telling myself just one more climb (although there were several more).  Hoping to trick my legs into submission, it seemed to work.  Jeckyll and Hyde flew by and seemed easier this time.  The "last climb" up Peavine was a manageable grind.

The flow of Jeckyll

For the remainder of the course, I felt like I was on autopilot.  Going on muscle memory, I went as hard as I could on Foreplay and Rattlesnake Ridge.  Watching my speedo, I knew that this lap was going to be alot slower and so was trying to minimize the difference.  I rolled through the finish line with a time of 4:26, the second lap being almost 6 minutes slower.

Laureen finished a close second and Tiffany third.  It had been several years since I had seen and raced Laureen.  We spent some time catching up with each other.  She is truly a great competitor and humble person.  And ... I got to meet her mechanic, "full-face" Kenny of JRA fame.

In the presence of bike knowledge awesome-ness!

I want to thank Kenny for working his arse off to make Chainbuster Racing what it is today.  Eddie Freyer has some big footsteps to fill, but am confident he will be able to get it done.  Looking forward to scheduling some of his races in 2016!

And with that, I broke down my campsite and drove up the road to race the 3rd Coast Enduro Series at Coldwater on Sunday.  But not looking forward to that damn sleeping pad!  Now I understand what Zeke means when he says his hips ache at night if he has to sleep on his side.

Dry Creek 6 Hour Race Report

Back in October when I signed up for this, I knew I did not want to race solo.  I started asking friends if they wanted to race a duo with me.  All my team mates save for Lisa had other plans.  Lisa was sorta in until she pedaled her body into the ground and was forced to take a 2 week rest period.  Ursula was out as she was still nursing an injury.  Loretta was interested, but then broke her arm.

So, I was left with no other choice ... Zeke.  Now all I had to do was to convince him how much fun it would be to ride in circles, on a team nonetheless.  You see, Zeke is an epic kind of guy.  Tell him to go big, go long, go hard (on a course that does not repeat itself) and he is as happy as a pig in poo.  But he was done racing the hamster wheel events.   What I had going for me was:  1.  that it was me asking, 2.  it was a new trail system, and 3.  he could do as many laps as he wanted.

He agreed ... to two laps.  Whew!  That meant that I only had to do four.  Since there was no single speed team division, we settled for coed.  We definitely had some competition.  Zeke was concerned of letting me down, but I told him that we were out here to have fun, and wherever we finished up, I was completely o.k. with that.  It had been a long season and I just wanted to finish it up not completely annihilating my body.

Cannot help myself ... always have my game face on, no matter what.

Saturday morning was frigid!  As I traveled from my house to the start of the race, the temperature slowly dropped 8 degrees.  Why is it that the Dry Creek parking lot, which is also the start of The Snake, is the coldest place in Georgia?  I needed to do a warm up, but was not wanting to brave the wind chill, so I kept it short, a mere 15 minutes.  I had just recently read an article about how long warm ups can be your undoing.  Not for me; I know that my body needs a solid 30 minutes to come to life.

Here is my account of the race, lap by lap.

Lap 1:  The flat parade lap up the fire road and around the parking lot sent me spiraling backwards into the field as my legs were spun out at a cadence of 130rpm.  I had unfortunately brought the wrong legs today; I had left the single speed ones at home.  The ones I had on were my geared legs and they did not like the gear I had on my bike.  I noted that there were 4 climbs that were particularly taxing with the gear I chose.  There were two fun and fast descents with whoop-de-doos.  I caught air, looked fairly graceful, and managed to not nose-wheelie myself off into the woods.

Photo Credit:  Mary Omstead

Lap 2:  I motored on through the transition zone.  The second lap felt easier.  Less traffic and knowing how hard I could push through the loose corners contributed to a smoother rhythm.  Around mile 4, I caught up to Star, the 2nd place team.  I passed her and then kicked it into a higher gear.  I had 6 miles left to gain as much time as possible.  The race for second was going to be close!  I rolled into the transition zone giving Zeke a 3 1/2 minute buffer.

Lap 3:  Zeke's first lap.  I was ready to go back out in case Zeke had an issue and couldn't do 2 laps in a row.  I crossed my fingers as I did not want to go back out so soon.  I could tell as he came through, finishing up his first, that he was giving his all.  59:08!  My team mates said that he hooted and hollered and sounded like he was having a grand time as he passed by them.  I hope I have half that much energy at 66.

All business!

Lap 4:  Zeke's second lap.  59:06.  So consistent.  He may want to rethink this whole lap race thing; he's darn good at it!

Lap 5:  Oh, the legs were barking going up that first climb!  After 10 minutes, they finally decided to cooperate ... a little.  What what !?! The 4 grunty climbs had turned into 6!  And they had gotten chewed up over the last few hours.  Now it took body english as well as muscle to keep the rear wheel from losing traction.

Lap 6:  Where is my competition?  I was trying to do the math, all the while laying down the power with a body that was beginning to fade and wanting to be done.  I needed to catch Star by mile 8 to have any sort of chance of us getting second.   At the 7.5 mile mark, I caught sight of the Motor Mile jersey up ahead.  Come on legs!   I asked my legs for just a wee bit more and by some small miracle they responded.  I passed Star and continued to ride like a scalded dog.  Two more climbs and one descent and I would be done.  The legs and lungs were burning as I crossed the finish line.  Second place was ours!

A huge thanks to the Ricky Manis and other NWGA SORBA members for getting this trail in tip top shape.  All the leaves and the loose gravel on the steeper climbs were blown off.  The cooperation between Chainbuster Racing and the local SORBA chapters has been awesome this year.  For all the Chainbuster races I have done, the trails have been perfect!

12 Hour Nite Nationals Race Report

Having raced Double Dare the weekend prior and still carrying quite a bit of fatigue, I was not overly motivated about this one.  But, the weather forecast improved as the week went on; with a low of 52 and 0% chance of rain, I was doomed to race throughout the night.   The equal payout was very enticing:  $1500, $1000, and $500.  So I pretty much did a gut check and headed down to Auburn, Alabama.

All business.

The turnout was disappointingly low.  There were only 3 women and 5 men in the money classes.  Chainbuster Racing does an outstanding job and has quality races.  Perhaps it wasn't promoted enough outside the Southeast.  Maybe college football takes precedence over racing, although I find that hard to believe.  It has been a long season and what with the gazillion races to choose from, it is possible everyone was just as tired as I was.

The day leading up to the 9pm start was the ... longest ... one ... ever.  I did my best to stay off my feet.  I tried to take a nap, but failed.  I ate a big breakfast and lunch and went light for dinner.  The cup of coffee at 7 pm was a perfect fuel additive for my engine.  By race start, I was primed.

No better way to lose a night of sleep.

The course was 11 miles long, 700 feet of gain, and 99% single track.  It was held in Chewacla State Park.  The local SORBA group, CAMP (Central Alabama Mountain Pedalers), worked long and hard to get this course in tip top shape.

Here is a summary of my race by lap.

Lap 1:  Jill Martindale, a Mini-Me of Danielle Musto, had go go gadget legs.  I barely held on to her wheel.  During the more technical second half, I was able to take the lead and get the fastest lap award ($100).

Lap 2:  This was my settle down and maintain lap.  I really had no upper end power, but could crank out a steady aerobic endurance pace.

Lap 3:  Around mile 8-9, I swore I was pedaling through a Bath and Body Works.  And around mile 10, the odor of  cinnamon rolls elicited a Pavlovian response.  Your sense of smell and hearing are much more keen when night racing.  The flowery smell persisted all night long.  This was motivating, as I knew I was close to the finish of each lap.

Lap 4:  The first half of the course was on the aptly named  For Pete's Sake Trail.  It was equivalent to a person's small intestine.  5+ miles of so much twisting and turning that I could not tell if the lights around me were racers in front of or behind me.  This was the "Dr. Hyde" section.  I just kept telling myself that this evil would lead to pleasure ... Falls View and Creek View Trails.  These were "whoo hoo" fun.  Fast flowy descents with a few small rock gardens interspersed.

Lap 5:  Glowing eyes and large crashing sounds through the woods just next to me.  Hoping the deer, Sasquatch, or whatever it is doesn't decide to jump in front of me.

Lap 6:  Finally finding "zen" with the trail.  Knowing when to brake, when to accelerate, when to coast, and which lines were the smoothest.  In a race of this length, it is not just about the power you can generate, but using your engine efficiently.

Lap 7:  I started naming the roots:  Little Focker #1, Little Focker #2, Little Focker #3 ... you get the picture.

Lap 8:  The most painful lap.  Everthing was beginning to hurt:  taint, upper back/neck, feet ... in that order.  I began to daydream ... err, nightdream, to not think about the pain.  I tried to name all of Ursula's 5 dogs and 6 cats.  I designed my dream truck.

Lap 9:  Began to go through some mental calculations to determine how many more laps I would need to secure a win.  Try doing math in your head at 5 am with 95 miles in your legs!  At least it made the lap go by quick enough.

Lap 10:  The sunrise lap ... my favorite lap of these type events.  It is amazingly beautiful  how the trail slowly comes to life and you begin to see the terrain you have been riding through the past 10 hours.

The Jet 9RDO made for a much smoother ride.

Lap 11:  Came through the pits after the 10th.  I was told Jill was about 30 minutes behind me.  What with the time remaining, I had to go out for this 11th one.  Tired of carrying a Camelbak, tired of carrying lights and batteries, I shed all this equipment.  I didn't even want the weight of a full bottle so I drank about 8 ounces at the pits and rode away, "bare bones" style.

I finished at 7:52 ... plenty of time for a 12th lap, but not necessary.  Jeff, my teammate, finished 2nd, and James won the Ultra division.  A great showing for SuperSport!

C.A.M.P.  treated us to a delicious breakfast.  Bacon, sausage, eggs ... had I died and gone to heaven?

$150 per lap 

A special thanks to NiteRider for being the title sponsor.  This race could not have happened without their support.