If you are like me, you use your Garmin device on almost every ride. With the ability connect a heart rate monitor and power meter a Garmin is a great tool for the serious athlete. Out of the box I don't find the default screens all that useful. Over the years I have tweaked my Garmin screens to show the most useful information at the right time whether I am riding for fun, racing, or training. Here is how I have mine set up.
Screen 1: Riding For Fun Screen.
Screen 2: General Training Screen: Laps, HR, Power, Cadence, Grade.
Screen 3: All Things Power. Great for non-interval rides with targeted power.
Screen 4: Intervals With Power. Power zone front and center.
Screen 5: Intervals with HR. I use this screen during races.
If you've read at least one of my race reports you'll know I use Ergon grips, and saddle on all of my bikes. I have had other sponsors support me over the past few years racing and to them I am especially grateful as well.
Ergon is a little different for me though and here is why:
Rewind back to August 2009, my first MTB race (at the ripe young age of 35). I returned home from the race and immediately started looking online for results and race coverage. I was new to Twitter so I tried a search for "winter park" and found this @jeffkerkove guy talking about the race. I found his blog from one of the links in his feed and read a few posts. He seemed to know a thing or two about racing and I had a bunch of questions. I found an email address and sent off a quick note with a question or two and walked away from the computer for 5 min. When I returned Jeff had replied to me with a good paragraph response. I was a little set back. In my past experience, noobs usually don't get the time of day from people that are in the know. A few days later I though I'd try my luck a second time with another question or two. The result was the same, 1-2 paragraphs answering my question. This trend went on for a few months. Some would say this is just good marketing to potential customers. Perhaps it is, but if that is what good marketing is, I want good marketing. Eventually I asked about how to keep my wrists from hurting on the long rides, and you can guess what the response was. Soon I was on a set of Ergon grips and that was that.
Fast forward to 2010, my first race season on a team. That year I did the Battle of the Bear and met Yuki Ikeda after the race. He was as friendly as Jeff and we talked for a bit about racing, his bike set up, and training. I was starting to think these Ergon guys were ok. The next race that year was The Bailey Hundo. The men's lineup included JHK, Dave Weins, and Bryan Alders (taking 1,2,3 respectively). The women's lineup included Sonya Looney. Both Dave and Sonya are on the Ergon team of course. The race was a painful experience and I was back and forth with Sonya on the course, we talked a bit while simultaneously trying to get ahead of each other. After the race Sonya walked up and congratulated me on the race. A few minutes later Dave Wiens walked up to the group I was sitting in, sat himself down, and started asking us about our races. This was beyond cool in my book.
Sonya took the photo of us.
So why do I use Ergon products?
The People.
I have also found that they are very well designed and make my training, racing, and riding life much more enjoyable. Thank you again for your support in 2014!
75 miles of wonderful singletrack later I crossed the line in 16th place Pro-Open ... and didn't get up for a long time.
2013 was my 3rd year racing the Park City Point 2 Point and I don't see that trend stopping anytime soon. I know there are other great races out there but in terms of something I can race the same day and sleep in my bed that night, Park City takes the cake. For anyone who hasn't raced this event you are really missing out on some quality racing or at minimum, a great day of trail riding.
There was very little drama during the race this year. I showed up relaxed and rode with a bunch of great guys all day. I had my good friend Joe Jackson at the aid stations handing bottles and food to me which was a huge help (thanks Joe!). I think my longest transition was 30 seconds. I raced Pro-Open and started off with guys riding at or faster than my pace. This was, without a doubt, the biggest factor to a good result for me this go around. Starting with a really fast group allowed me to race the whole course as fast as I wanted without any bottlenecks. The racers I encountered were quick to move over for a pass and I returned the favor many times.
Speaking of the people, It was reaffirmed to me this year how cool the MTB race scene is. My friend Curt Wilhelm (www.mtbcoach.com) came out for the race so it was fun to meet up and race with him again. I met a few new people on the race route as well. It's odd to think you can cary on a conversation with someone while racing but it is possible at least for a little bit. I had lots of KUHL teammates out on course with me and they hammered it.
One thing is for sure, I need to ride the Park City -> The Canyons leg sometime before next year. I always forget how long that section is. I thought I was closer to the finish than I was this time and fell off my nutrition plan, I bonked with an hour to go and never recovered. As a result, I and had to watch two guys ride away from me.
You gotta eat if you want to go ZOOM....
Thanks to everyone who worked to put this event on and for all of my supporters this year.
See you next year P2P!
Circling back through the starting line after a hot lap in Round Valley.
Once again I found myself in Beaver, Utah this July for my 2nd go at the Crusher In The Tushar. Last year's race didn't go quite like I wanted, loosing bottles and energy so I this year I was up for a little redemption, but mostly I wanted to get back to that scenery and high-elevation riding the Tushar mountains offer. As expected Burke Swindlehurst put on another great event with a star-studded lineup. I'll let you read up on the race on the official website but in summary: The format is a mixture of road and dirt road (no singletrack). The hardest part about the race is deciding what bike to ride although this year, most of the top contenders opted for a CX bike. Given my CX bike weighs 3-4lbs more than my mountain bike, I opted for my Flash with CX tires. If you have a light CX bike, that's probably the way to go.
I have been riding pretty well this year so I threw my entry in with the Pro / Open men with little to no expectations given the lineup. After introductions, we rolled out of town just after 8am. We rode at an uncomfortably easy pace up the pavement. It was much slower that I was expecting, looking at my Garmin, I was sitting in HR zone 2. I felt like I wanted to ride a little faster to make better time on the day but I wasn't about to ride off the front in this group, not a chance. I sat in mid-pack waiting for the fireworks to start. There was a short breakaway and a little tire rubbing in the pack but nothing came of either.
We made the turnoff and faced the first real climb of the day, I turned to the guy I had been riding with most of the way and said something like "this is where things are going to blow wide open", and sure enough, within 60 second the group ignited leaving the back of the peloton scrambling. I looked down at my Garmin once again and saw 4.2 in the HR zone field. My plan was to obey the Garmin at all costs for the climb over the top, and 4.2 was too high. I dialed back bouncing between the high 3's and 4.0, a pace I had been riding in a lot during training following my LW Coaching training plan. Last year, I didn't pace as well and ended up paying for it on the last 1/2 of the race, so goal #1 was to pace well this time around.
As I neared the crest of the first climb, 1 hour 42 min into the race, my rear tire started to loose air, I stopped and hit it with a good blast of air (running tubeless) and rode off again, On the descent into the valley, it wen't flat again, I repeated. The 3rd time 3/4 of the way down I opted for a tube and wen't into full-on NASCAR pitstop mode. I was still in good spirits after putting things back together. I pulled out 1/2 of a caffeine pill, washed it down, and got on my way with plenty of downhill to get my speed back up.
I soon made it up to that guy with the unmistakable dreadlocks, Garth Prosser, and we formed a draft line of two. We quickly picked up another CX rider with taller gears than I had and sat in behind him, soon after that we picked up Corey Larrabee, one of my teammates, making 4 people for a good pace-line into Circleville. We rotated pulls through town picking up one more guy on the way back to the climb into the mountains. On the flat section of pavement I hit a chunk of metal and lost air for the 4th time in my rear tire. I wished everyone luck and pulled over for another pitstop. Fortunately, I had packed along 3 tubes and 2 Big Air canisters so I was in good shape, except for time. I couldn't stop the clock, and it kept ticking away. People rode by that knew me, they asked if I was ok, heckled, and rode on. I fumbled with my wheel longer that I wanted to and finally got it back together.
Then the Caffeine pill kicked in.
I got the idea of using those little pills from hearing Drew Edsall talk about them. I knew from the past that I race better with a little caffeine but it always required taking in a gel or sports drink, (CarboRocket 333 for example). This made it hard to balance calories, hydration, and caffeine as the needs were not always consistent for each. Needless to say, I started to feel like superman and just in time too as I had a monster to climb back up to the 10,000 ft range and needed to try and salvage some time on my race.
I worked my way back into a group of people which turned into me pulling the group and riding off the front as we started the climb back up. Caffeine is a great thing. I checked my Garmin again and it read 3.1. Unlike the first climb of the day, my goal was to keep from falling off the bottom of zone 3 rather than shooting off the top so 3.5 was my goal and it was a challenge to keep my HR there.
The climb back into the Tushars reaffirmed I made the right gearing decision. I chose to run a SRAM XX1 setup with a 36T in the front and the standard 10-42 in the rear. This was a good fit for the climb back up. I spun a steady pace and seemed to consistently pull in riders up the climb. We were all feeling the steep grades. As I rounded the last switchback with the top in view, I saw my friend Adam Lisonbee who was having a great day on the bike and had heckled passed me on the road in the valley while I was off the side dealing with my flat tire. In an effort to crush his spirits motivate him further, I stood up and put myself into leg screaming anaerobic mode to catch him just before the KOM summit.
"Common Grizz! Is that all you've got!?!?!"
Judging from his podium spot, he had a little more after that as well. We soon separated and I resumed my quest to minimize the number of time clicks before I cross the line which was another 10-miles away.
Eventually I made it to this sign. The night before the race I rode from my condo up the last 1-mile stretch and snapped this photo. For everyone finishing the race, this would mark the longest mile of their life. It was all up hill and gradually increased to a 12% grade before the end.
I emptied what was left in my tank up the road and crossed the line in 30th place at 5 hours 26 minutes. Having lost 15-20 min to flat tires I was really happy with my time. I rode much better than last year and had some in the tank at the end of the race. Goals accomplished.
See you next year Crusher, 3rd time will be the charm.
Race - Elevation profile, speed, and heart rate from my super secret software.
I lined up with the big boys this week for the USCS Round Valley XC in Park City, Utah. Last year I raced single-speed taking 2nd place behind Corey Larrabee. Since I didn't have a 1x1 ready to ride this year I went ahead and signed up with gears in Pro / Open.
After taking a detour over Guardsman's Pass to avoid I-80 traffic on the drive up, I pulled into the parking lot 10 minutes before the race start. In a frantic dash, I signed my waiver and bolted to the lineup just in time to hear Bob Saffell, the race director, yell "30 seconds... 20 seconds...". With my gloves still stuffed under my bibs mid-thigh I spun the last few twists on my race number fasteners, started my Garmin, and then "Go!".
We were off.
The race played out as most XC races do. We started too fast, the fast guys dropped everyone, I counted how many places I was back "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven... was that everyone?". That put me around mid-pack into the singletrack on the first lap. During the rest of the race a few guys got around me, I got by a few guys, and by lap 3 the placing was pretty much settled. We rode 3 laps of singletrack and then a bonus 1/2 lap before we hit the finish line in just over 2 hours. When it was over I rolled across the line in 9th place, which is better than what I was expecting.
I may just have to do a few more of these shorties.
I learned a few more things about endurance racing this year on my third bout with the unforgivable and fantastic True Grit singletrack. Every year I leave St George post-race completely demolished with a vow to never return. The Grit is a hard 100-miler to prepare for when you live in northern Utah where there is still snow on the ground through March. I knew going into this one I wasn't really ready to race 100-miles but I had already made the commitment to race so I was going to show up and see what happens.
Anyone with a competitive spirit would be lying if they didn't admit there is some part of them that would like to be up front mixing it up with the top-level endurance athletes. Watching these guys perform is a reminder of what it takes to ride at that level and the gifted athletes they are. Racing along side these top guys is kind of like a 50-yard-line seat at the Super Bowl for me. The fact that we can all line up together and do these type of events is part of what keeps me coming back.
This was my third year racing the Grit and it always goes pretty much the same way: I start getting ready in late December. I try to eat right, spend a lot of time on the trainer, plan the days and weeks meticulously, hope I don't get sick, I get sick, I recover, I build again, I have work commitments, I have family commitments, schedule compromises, and so on. Race day arrives and I hope I have prepared enough. I arrive in the dark, sort out my drop bags, spin around nervously for 30 min, chat a bit with friends, and line up.
The race director yells "GO!"
I cross the starting line, settle in behind the first 10 or so fast guys and spin out the first few miles as they slowly drift off the front. Almost every NUE race starts out this way for me and I am good with that. I love the experience and every endurance race is a race against myself, bad fortune, mechanicals, and the clock. I hurt, but I am happy as 12 weeks of dedication culminate as I cross the finish line. After a few days of rest and comfortably back in my day-to-day routine, I'm ready to do it all over again next year.
The script was pretty much un-changed this time around. The race was a steady state of forward motion and a blur of desert landscapes. I had a few crashes that cost me a bit of time. I cramped a bit after the 5 hour mark but that seems to happen almost every 100-miler so I was expecting it. I was worked over from the rough terrain but kept turning over the pedals through the finish line. I raced to the best of my ability and turned in a respectable time of 8 hours 13 min.
I attended Camp Lynda once again this year put on, once again, by the the dynamic duo of Lynda Wallenfels and Dave Harris of LWCoaching. Despite the 50% chance of rain both days, St George, Utah delivered. Friday was excellent, the trails were dry and there were plenty of fast guys to chase around the desert. Saturday we hit some of the best trails around including Zen on the True Grit race course. The weather didn't cooperate but the cool temperatures and wet trails made for some very fun riding. It was definitely fun to ride the whole day with guys that I usually only see briefly at the races before they hammer off the front. I also met some new people that I hope to hit the trail with again before next year. If you haven't made it out to Camp LW I highly recommend you give it a try. The pace is relaxed and there is plenty of riding company for all fitness levels.
Meeting at in the Starbucks Parking Lot for Day 1
Headed back from the "City Creek-Pioneer Hills-Pioneer Rim-Powerline-Dino Tracks-Church Rocks-Prospector-SilverReef" ride on day 1.
Somewhere near Church Rocks (I think). These trails were new to me.
Same place as above.
Pushing the 34/20 SS up a big sandy hill east of town.
Day 2 Start. Duff Johnson, Chris Faatz, Brandon Firth and The Gear Rush tent occupied by Alex Grant
Taylor Lideen, Alex Grant, Brandon Firth, Bart Gillespie (left-right).
Same guys, different order.
Dirty bikes ready to head home, but not too dirty.
Chris Holley, Drew Free, Chris Faatz at the overlook on Zen Trail.
I started riding bikes again at age 35 while living in Colorado after nearly 15 years of not riding bikes. I love Colorado, it has huge mountains, it has roads you can ride on that end on the top of 14,000ft peaks, it has the Colorado Trail, it has Breckenridge. I moved to Utah in October 2011 and found that Utah has a lot of good riding. While Utah doesn't reach into the sky nearly as much as Colorado it has one place that Colorado does not, a place I have grown to love, especially in the winter.
Power, HR, and cadence data from my first ride with a power meter.
Red: Power (watts)
Blue: Heart Rate (bpm)
Cyan: Cadence (rpm)
I took the plunge this month and invested in a power meter (Quarq S975) for my CX bike thanks to some help from my shop sponsor for 2013 (Thank's Slim & Knobbies!). The graph above shows my first ride on a stationary trainier where I averaged around 215w over the course of 2 hours 15 min riding in HR zone 2-3. I am in bike geek heaven with all of this fancy data and hopefully I will learn to actually put it to some good use over the next 12 weeks. Needless to say, I am very excited to move past a fundamental problem I've had.
The Problem:
I have been using a HR monitor for the past 3 years and that has helped guess at how much effort I was expending during my training sessions. I say guess because that's really all it is. The problem with a HR monitor, or more specifically, heart rate is the inconsistency as it relates to actual power to the pedals. Some days my HR will much higher or lower for what seems to me like the same effort so it really is hard to know if I am pushing to hard for a given workout or not hard enough. I have found that when compared to other riders, my HR has been 10-20bpm lower than theirs which was confusing to me at first. For a while I thought this was because I wasn't pushing myself as hard as they were. I eventually realized that my HR is just low, if I reach 160bpm I am getting close to bleeding out the eyeballs. Anyway, you get the point, HR is a horrible way to gauge effort on a consistent basis but it is better than nothing. With enough experience training with a HR monitor and paying attention to your body it is possible to get by. Eventually I believe one reaches a plateau training with HR alone and I think I may be sitting on one right now.
The Solution:
Training with power takes everything inconsistent, vague, and problematic that comes with training by HR and replaces it with consistency, exactness, and cold hard reality. 200w of power today will be 200w of power tomorrow plain and simple. With HR there is ramp up time between a change in effort and a change in HR. Power happens within a second or two at most.
So there you have it, everything I know about training with power. I have a lot of reading to do and fortunately for me, there is a lot of available reading. I plan to start with the links below.
Lambert Park is a labyrinth of winding trails leading nowhere but perfect for a mindless hour of SS or CX riding. Last Friday, I mixed the trail system in to a longer ride on one of my favorite routes connecting Corner Canyon with Alpine. I wanted to avoid the always popular and usually congested Corner Canyon trails for once. The route was desolate as was the park. I was left alone with music and my thoughts for the better part of the afternoon.
I took my boys (ages 7 and 10) to the top of Mount Timpanogos this past weekend. This was the hardest thing they have done to date and quite honestly, I wasn't sure if I was getting them in over their head. Needless to say, we made it to the top of the peak and back all in one piece. The total round trip was just over 14 miles with close to 5,000ft of vertical elevation gain.
The day was a long one, and there were many times both of my boys wanted to turn back. I continually reassured them, sometimes with sugar, other times with blatant lies about things such as a magical ski lift that would take them the last 1000ft to the top if they would only make it up to the saddle. I assured them they could do it, over and over. I even attached a tow rope to my pack and let the 7-year-old hold onto it to help him keep up. I kept their minds off the constant climbing for over an hour asking them about Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, something both of them are experts in. We hiked for hours, talking along the way about anything I could think of to keep their minds off the task at hand. We looked at the rocky peaks and took turns suggesting what they look like. The back side of Timp looks like an aligator head, by the way.
Eventually we arrived at the saddle where the view of Utah Valley opens up. "Wow", the boys said. We took in the view for a while and eventually my youngest said, "Well that wasn't so bad" thinking we were done. I reluctantly turned him to the south and pointed to the peak towering another 1000ft above us. Both of their hearts sank "Dad, there is no way we can climb that" my youngest said. My oldest was equally disappointed and they both said they were done. I dug deep for something motivating. "See that freeway down there?" I said. "How many times do you think we've driven up and down that road?". "A bunch" they mumbled, knowing what I was trying to do. I told them that if they turn back now, every time they look up at this mountain, they will be reminded of how they *almost* made it to the peak but decided to turn back instead. If they would just push a little bit more and make it to the top, every time they look up at the peak, they will be reminded of how awesome it was to accomplish such a feat at such a young age. I told them it would change their life forever. They thought about it for a minute, there was a long silence, then I said "see that little building on the top? That's a McDonalds and I'll buy you some ice cream if you make it there". Being young, they half-way believed me but it seemed to be enough to turn the tables. "What about the ski lift that will take us to the top?" they said. "Um...", my credibility was starting to decline. I eventually came clean and the negotiations continued. We finally struck a deal, if they made it to the top I would take them directly to Pizza Pie Cafe when we made it back to town. Nothing is more motivating to young boys than the chance to stuff their face with pizza and that place is their favorite in the world to stuff face. We started in on the climb again, up the narrow trail and sketchy switchbacks. The little "McDonalds" was getting closer, their spirits lifted, and we finally made it to the top.
We achieved the goal for the day, now all that was left was to get back down, a feat that will be almost as hard as the climb. We started the trip down, caring on in conversation much like we did on the way up. Their legs started to turn to "jelly". To put a positive spin on it I asked them "What kind of jelly?". "Strawberry" they both said. Seizing the opportunity to draw their minds away from aching muscles, I quickly changed the subject to Star Wars where it remained for the next 45 minutes. After the lengthy discussion, things grew silent leaving only the sound of feet beating on the trail. I started to reflect. My oldest boy is now 10-years-old, which means my time with him as my boy, living in my house, is more than half way over. Soon he will be all grown up, out of the house, and off to live his life. Soon enough, I will long for days like this one where it's just us, doing things together. Sure, we will do a lot of things together the rest of our lives as grown-ups but it will never be like this again. I reflected on how I am doing as a father, as a dad, as a role model, as a hero to these two boys. I'd like to think I've been doing a good job but my perspective isn't their perspective, and their perspective is what matters. I finally broke the silence and asked "How am I doing guys?". They looked at me a little puzzled. "I mean, how am I doing as your dad? Do we do enough together?". They thought, then both said something like "Yea, we do a lot of hard stuff, but it usually turns out to be fun". Their answer was delivered nonchalant but carried a massive amount of weight with me. I know my boys and they aren't afraid to tell me what they think, even if that means I suck at being a dad. It's a trait they no doubt got from their father. So when they say I'm doing a good job they mean it. Hearing that made me pretty happy. I was given a passing grade.
I have written a lot of things on this blog, the majority has been about racing mountain bikes and that was the the reason I started writing. Admittedly, I am not very good at writing but I do love the sport and want to document my involvement as much as possible. Mountain biking has been life-changing for me and for my family, but not always in positive ways. I will continue to compete and write about my adventures doing so, but the greatest fulfillment I find in life happens on the weekends I am not racing for myself, but when I am competing for a passing grade with my two boys and the rest of my family. I hope to have more opportunities like this hike to keep me grounded and focused on the things that matter most.
Single-Speed Podium. Corey Larrabee 1st, Me 2nd, Elden Nelson (The Fat Cyclist) 3rd.
Just when I thought I'd had enough singletrack racing in Park City two weeks ago I had a chance to put the cap on 2012 racing in my back yard at Corner Canyon. This was the last in a 4-race series organized by Bob Saffell of MTBRace Productions. I have done most of my riding on these trails all year and pretty much knew every inch of the race course by heart. Corner Canyon has a reputation for fast winding singletrack and tamed trails. It also has the tendency to be under-estimated in terms of difficulty. There is some serious climbing to be had on these quiet trails and I knew better going in so I was ready for a complete beating. To add to the punishment, I decided to race single-speed for this one given I had already done one other race in the series on single-speed earlier this year. Besides, Corner Canyon is prime single-speed riding.
Here is a little look at the elevation profile. The rest of the ride can be found on Strava HERE.
We lined up at 8am at the Corner Canyon trailhead equestrian center. When I saw Corey Larrabee line up also racing single-speed I knew it was going to be a race for 2nd place. Corey left me in the dust at the top of the Canyon Hollow climb on lap 1 and I rode in 2nd place for the next 3 hours to the finish. The trails lived up to their reputation and the scenery was a pleasant distraction from the constant mashing of the 32x19 I was running. I felt pretty good all day with a few cramps showing up late on lap 2. I haven't raced a single-speed for this long since March when I race the True Grit 100 and my legs were begging me to shift the last hour especially climbing Clark's Trail the 2nd time. It was an awesome day riding and a perfect way to end my MTB racing season. Thanks again for all of the support this year.
Upper Corner Canyon Road still chasing 1st on lap 2.
Riding blind through the dark tunnel by the equestrian park.
Obligatory post-race steed photo. Man I love this bike! I also love Grizzly Adam's bike rack that I more or less assembled for him earlier this year. But that's another story.
Q: Did I cheat at this year's Park City Point 2 Point?
A: Technically yes, but I was not alone (read below).
Q: Was this cheating intentional?
A: No... NO!!!
Q: Will I do it again?
A: I hope not.
Q: Did I have a great day of racing regardless?
A: Yes!
Now that we have that out of the way, on with the race report...
I had been waiting for September 1st all year (literally). The P2P has been the pinnacle of singletrack racing for me since my first experience in 2010 and I plan to make it a staple in my racing / riding for years to come. What makes this race unique is that it is almost 100% singletrack, so much so that racers start to OD on it towards the end. It just keeps coming and coming. For a good analogy check out Fatty's Race Report.
Like a lot of guys and gals with many full-time "grown up" responsibilities, I don't take the opportunity to race (or ride for that matter) lightly. I pick my races carefully and plan to show up ready to compete 100%. So I'm going to race as long as I am physically and and my equipment is mechanically able, and as long as the race director says the event is a go. The morning of race day it was pouring rain. Jay Burke and Shannon Boffelli were on the hook to make an critical decision on whether to wait out the rain and run the race Saturday or postpone in hopes for better weather Sunday. The decision was made to start the race an hour late Saturday and cut out the Round Valley section ( ~ 12 miles ). I was pumped, we were all there so let's race this thing!
Pre-race meeting: Jay and Shannon talking things over with anxious racers.
The uncertainty of the morning left us with a short window to get bikes and bodies ready and up to the line. Things were a little crazy, not exactly how you want to start off the biggest race of the year. Like always, I had over-engineered my planning and everything was pretty much ready to go. I put on my stuff, grabbed my bottle of wet lube, and proceeded to empty 1/2 of it on my chain, spun around for about 10 min and then lined up mid-pack in the first group. Moments later we were off.
On a side note:
The only thing the P2P is lacking at the start line is a shotgun blast. Perhaps Park City won't allow it but Jay, let's get some stuff blowing up next time to send us off. What do you say??
Continuing on...
Everyone took off like we were racing a 1-hour XC race so I sat in on the back of the pack just close enough to stay in the draft until we hit the singletrack. We did a quick loop, down a path, and to the hole shot where 99% of the group immediately plugged up trying to cram into the singletrack. I won't proceed to give a play-by-play of every rock, turn, climb, and downhill descent but there were a bunch. The first hour was muddy with puddles, the rest of the day (for me at lest) was perfect tacky trail.
Here are some photos of me racing around. For more photos of the event check out Photo John'sMTBR post and the Zazoosh site. As for me cheating you'll have to scroll on down past the photos. I'll also do some "what if" math to show how I would have totally won my division if x, y, and z didn't happen (sarcasm) . This is mostly to make me feel better about my cheating (sarcasm) and see how I did or did not improve over the last time I raced the P2P (not sarcasm).
Typical singletrack for the day. Imagine riding this for 6-9 hours straight!
Riding above Deer Valley about 2 hours in. I was feeling good racing here, I wasn't yet a cheater but that would change shortly.
Deer Valley
Here is a promotional video put on by Park City Television. I'm in there a few times (2:21 & 2:48) as long as you don't blink.
Now on to the cheating...
For the first 2 hours and 30 min of the race I had managed to stay on course. Already there were several (had to be at least 10-15) trails we had entered or exited following the orange chalk directing the way. I knew the rain would have most likely made some of the markings change so I was extra careful to take a good look at each one. Even then, I took a few brief wrong turns and was quickly corrected by another set of eyes riding right behind me. Using the buddy system like this is great racing, as long as you have a buddy. There is almost always a time in a big endurance race like this one that I will find myself riding alone, too slow to hang with the big dogs, and too fast to ride in the general mass of participants. This year was pretty good. I felt good at race pace and was putting a small gap in on the other 30-39ers.
As I was saying... around 2:30 in I was riding alone. I had just made it around that big hill (not sure the name) riding in the fog and hit a nice bit of singletrack in the trees. Then I came up to this funny little marking that was a circular arrow, there was a fork in the trail and the arrow was to the right (I think). To the left I saw markers going up the trail so I thought we were going to head to the left and circle back down to the right. If I were to have actually stopped long enough to rub two brain cells together I would have figured out my error... but I just kept going. I was reassured about 50 yards up the trail when I started seeing markings again. I quickly forgot about the arrow and went on my way. Little did I know I was officially a cheater, a trail cutter, a scum bag.
Using a few visual aids, I will demonstrate my mistake.
Here is my awesome race up to the point I got off track (blue line):
Here is what the course is supposed to look like (zooming in on the section where the blue line ends above):
Here is what I did:
If you look closely, you'll see I cut out all of that zig-zagging in the middle of the map and cut across right where both trails almost meet. At this point I was in 1st place in my age group with a 3:18 gap over 2nd place (based on Strava data). I had just cut out 18min of riding missing the turn. At the time of course I knew nothing of this. I was just racing.
I started to have some concerns a few minutes later when I crossed highway 224 and Sly (Gilly) yelled "Did you go around the hill"? I said yes (he was speaking of a hill earlier in the course not the section I had just missed). He then yelled "Dude you are in 8th! There are only seven guys in front of you! A bunch of guys took the wrong turn!!!". Prior to making my own blunder, I had just ridden almost a complete circle around a hill at the top of Deer Valley, where it would have been very easy to cut straight across on a dirt road and miss a the whole section of trail. This is a very well known spot and one that a few racers missed in 2010 causing them to backtrack. When I heard Sly's comments, I though a bunch of guys had to ride back up the trail and re-do that section of course. Cool I thought. I'm in 8th! That's RAD, I wonder how long that will last.
Then it all started to get really crazy...
About 10 min up the trail a rider came upon me fast and yelled "You need to let me by, you cut the course!". I let him by but said "Hey you're welcome to pass but I don't think I cut the course." He promptly informed me I DID cut the course and said "I am [he was] in 3rd!". He was clearly frustrated which I can understand. At this point I started to retrace my steps mentally and let off the gas a bit. The next thing I knew, Josh Tostado came flying up to me and asked me if he could pass. Josh is a nice guy but fast as blazes and there was no chance on God's green earth I would legitimately be in front of him. I'm pretty sure he knew I was off in the weeds, and soon enough he was out of sight. By now I knew I screwed up and figured it was something to do with that funny arrow back up the trail. I let off the gas a bit more, sure I had just DQ'd myself. I would have turned around but not knowing exactly what I needed to correct It would have been a hopeless endeavor.
My mojo took a dive. I pulled out a Honey Stinger waffle, clicked into an easier gear, and ate it.
At this point I had to decide if I wanted to finish the race, or just ride to PCMR and call it good. The thought of riding over mid mountain to The Canyons "just for fun" wasn't sitting well. After all, my wife and kids were most likely at the Grand Summit Hotel pool just waiting for me to get there with a whole afternoon of activities planned around town. Why hold them up if I was just riding to finish? I continued to pedal on riding fast and comfortable but not with any sort of race intensity. Fall was starting to make it's mark on the trees and the trails were laden with hero dirt. The air was cool and the riding was great. My bike continued to fly uphill it seemed as it had the whole day. Before I knew it, I was at the top of the climb by Shadow Lake.
Cool, the hardest climb of the race was behind me! I turned for the DH and shortly after I sliced the sidewall in my rear tire. It went flat quickly. "That's karma for you", I thought. "You cut the course and you are served up a flat tire right before the DH". I took my time, I pulled out my stuff, and put a tube in and inflated it with air. It immediately when flat again. The tube had a hole in it and now I was out of Co2! I looked up and saw a rider flying down the hill. It was Yuki Ikeda of Topeak/Ergon who looked as surprised to see me as I was him. As with Tost, I had no business being in front of Yuki, at least not without a lot of EPO. This almost certainly sealed my believe that I was DQ'd and riding the race just to ride. Yuki asked if I was ok and I insisted he keep going. He was in 6th place and I wasn't about to ask him for anything. A few minutes later another SS racer came by. I asked him what the milage was on his GPS. It was about 2 miles more than what mine said. I was now 100% sure I was DQ'd and determined I would pull out at PCMR. I had a problem though, I didn't have air in my rear tire and my CO2 was empty.
I was screwed.
I started running, ok well jogging, down the trail and soon saw Nick Rico and a few other riders in hot pursuit coming down the trail and I think I waved them on as well. They were leading my age group and I had to watch them race on by. Nick went on to take 1st with a strong finish. Moments later I saw another familiar jersey, It was Thomas Spannring my teammate! He asked what I needed. I gave in and figured I may as well fix my tire and ride instead of walk to the next aide station. "A tube and some air?" I said. He quickly dropped me a pump and a tube and took off. I was saved! I got to work again, still moving like someone not in a big hurry, pulling out my stuff, swapping the bad tube for a good one, and started pumping it up. Fatty (Elden Nelson, a.k.a The Fat Cyclist) came flying by. "Fatty!" I yelled, he was cooking but asked if I was ok and continued on. When It was all said and done I had spend close to 30 min fiddling with my tire, based on my GPS data. I pointed my rig downhill and rode to PCMR.
When I arrived at the PCMR aide station I learned that I was one of many that took the wrong turn and I was not DQ'd but they would be adding a little time to everyone that cut the trail. With this news in hand, there was no way I was walking off the course, if I wasn't DQ'd I was going to finish (Jonathan Davis would be proud)! I loaded up with fresh bottles and emptied the tank riding even more epic singletrack to the finish line at The Canyons. Looking at the time splits for the last leg I put some time into the 30-39 race leader (see the "what if" section below). In fact, I was 1st on the intermediate split from PCMR to the finish by around 3 min 30 seconds. This made me feel better about my day for sure. It is very likely the 30-min break I had fixing flats and stuffing my face might have had something to do with feeling so good the last 2 hours but I'd like to think I was well prepared having followed the LW Coaching 100-miler plan for the past 6 weeks (they rock).
Now to crunch some data to see how it might have turned out under perfect conditions:
What if?
I had not taken a bad turn: Add 18 min to my finish time.
I had not flatted: Remove 29 min from my finish time.
I had not stopped *racing* for a few hours sorting out the DQ situation: ??
My finish time would have been: 06:56:43
What if?
We had ridden the whole course?
I had ridden Round Valley: Add 51 min (taken from 2010)
My finish time would have been: 7:55:43, a good 30 min faster than 2010!
Not that any of this really matters but taking a good look at the numbers is a healthy exercise IMO to see how I did or didn't improve and what to correct. Racing is racing and things happen and there were some lessons learned on this one. The winners of the race won because they rode the whole course and got to the finish line faster than anyone else, and a big congrats to them for doing so!
The bottom line is the race was an adventure and I got in an amazing day of riding trail. Jay and crew pull out all of the stops to put on the best race possible. There is a good reason this event sells out in 5 min every February and I just experienced it yet again! Thanks to all that worked to make the race happen and thank you to all of my sponsors and supporters for helping me participate in events like this one. Ergon Gloves & Grips, Cannondale Bikes, CarboRocket, Stan's NoTubes, Infinite Cycles and my team Epic Endurance Cycling. Thank you!
And thanks to my family for putting up with my mid-life delusions of grandeur. Having them at the finish line is the best podium one could hope for.
