I suppose it's good to make big changes in one's life every once and a while. I think I've made the biggest change yet in the last few weeks. No, I didn't get a sex change; I just got a job. A big one. Not big as in 75k per year salary big. Big as in it's currently Saturday 5:40AM and I am up to go to work. I have already worked at least 45 hrs this week. I don't know how long I'll be working today. I'm not riding as much anymore because I simply don't have the time. Most nights I'm not home until 6:00PM, and I really don't have the energy to go out and ride for 2 or 3 hrs. I may put an hour of hard effort in, but that's it really. So there goes the cross season, right? I'm hoping not to have to give up racing. My work will get lighter as the year progresses. In the winter I may not be working at all. I'll probably be adopting the Vegan Rob training plan. As for now, I'm riding when I can, and trying to get parts to build up my cross bike so I can hop in on some road rides.
I am still racing, though. Last weekend I hit up the Rattling Creek 50. It was fun. Those trails rock. It was nice to see people. I'm not super pleased with my time (5:33), but I had a good time ripping those trails. Next weekend I will not be working Saturday, but driving down to Stokesville, VA for the Shenandoah Mountain 100. That is the funness. Lets just hope my lack of riding recently hasn't put me in a huge hole; one that I can't crawl out of after 60 miles in the VA mountains.
Oh, and if you go to the Dickinson Website and refresh it a few times, you should come up with a picture of me and Zach. Interesting stuff.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Zzzzzzzzz...
So ever since the 101, I've been super tired all the time. Today, I went in to the doctor, and she prescribed a large blood panel testing for the usual things that can make one tired: Mono, Lyme, Hemoglobin count, Vitamin-D, Vitamin-B12, etc. That's about 7 different sized vials of blood that came out of my arm. Yay. As a consequence of this tiredness, I haven't really ridden this week, and while I was hoping to get in a ride this afternoon, I'm beat. I probably should have a nap, but I have a job interview to prepare for. That's right! Tomorrow, 3:00 PM. Until then, I guess I'll just sit around and drink OJ to build up some blood. Maybe I'll go eat some meat...
Monday, August 2, 2010
School'd
The Wilderness 101 is one of my favorite races out there. Something I always want to do well at. So after a one year hiatus, I set off to Coburn Friday afternoon with my parents, they to run Aid Station 3, and me to race. I was hoping to better my previous time of 9:59:22 by a lot, considering that in 2008 I cut more than an hour of my previous time of 11:04:58, and (if I may toot my own horn a bit) I am a lot faster now than I was two years ago. My though was that if I cut more than an hour off again, I would be in good shape. But, the Wilderness (and also the wilderness in general) always has something in store for you that you didn't know about. As Tomi says, there's always something to learn out there in the woods...
Race Day:
5:00 AM wake up, eat oatmeal. Realize how damn cold it is outside. Not really cold, just cold for the summer (like in the low 50s). Somehow, there was a nice pocket of wet, cold air hanging over Coburn Saturday morning. I warmed up in my TSE hoodie that I brought. Close to the designated 7:00 AM start, we all started massing on the road. I rolled up next to Vegan Rob, and he told me that he wanted me stuck to his wheel like poo. Good advice, should have taken it. The race starts with a 2 mi neutral roll-out, then a 5 mi climb to spread things out. At the top of the climb, I found myself riding with some old friends, including young local, and ridiculous technical rider Madison. This kid grew up (is growing up?) riding these trails, and it shows. After successfully navigating the corner of death, we formed a group of about eight or nine; four on geared bikes with big rings, and four or five on SS. For some reason all us gearies sat on the wheels of the SS guys. I think it was because we were more than happy to have them help us up little climbs as well as keep us from hammering our asses off on flats or descents and wasting all our energy so early. I ended up letting them go after Aid Station #1 due to a mandatory nature brake. I never really caught Madison again, although I tried to make up some time on Detweiller, he just gapped me again afterwards. Damn. I did catch one of my other paceline mates, Joel, after cleaning 3 Bridges trail in its entirety for the first time. I was happy about that because it's always good to impress the crowd that gathers there. I managed to make it through the rock garden with my minimal trials skills, hopping over the last big rock in my poorly chosen line. Joel dropped me up the next section of road, but I caught back up to him on Little Singletown, which I remember being one of the highlights of my first 101. I pulled him into Aid Station #2. After a bit of solid food, and some fresh bottles, we kept going, eager to hit the hard climbs ahead.
Then the danger began. Once we hit Greenlee (the longest climb?) I started to fade. I got passed by a lot of people. I caught a lot of them down Croyle. Then we hit Seeger (the hardest climb?). Seeger is steep and long. About 2/3 of the way up everything shut down. My head dropped, a bit of tunnel vision set in, and I had to stop. I ate about half a flask of Hammer Gel because I didn't have any real food with me (oops...). I knew I was in trouble when I was having trouble turning over my easiest gearing of 27x34 not because my legs were tired, but because I was having a hard time staying upright on my bike. I wish I could relate in words the soul-crushing bottom I hit, but I can't. Madison's dad caught me once I got going again, and we rallied down Telephone. I cannot express my undying love for Telephone. It is so much fun. I then struggled my way on to Aid Station #3, where my parents were. I ate a lot of food there, mostly Pringles. I knew the next part would be super fun, so I was excited to begin it. Once I hit Sassafrass, the fun began. Fun in the form of the hugely steep descent. I was hoping to overtake any folks on the upper parts of the trail so I could rip it at my own speed, but I ran into a dude just as it started dropping down. We locked bars a bit on the hairy corner and he ended up on top of me cursing. After apologizing profusely, I let him go. I totally took him out, and I feel bad about it. My concentration slipped and I started braking [harder] after he did and was going too fast to cut a tighter line when I realized it, and kind of plowed right into him. No one was injured in this stupidity. I didn't even have any cuts. I would like to say, that he was going down anyway, so I just cushioned his fall; his helmet did end up caught in my bar end. I caught up to him again on the Lewistown Contingent sweetness, but let him go, figuring I could get him again on Beautiful. Ah Beautiful. The perfect trail in any direction. Cleaned it this year. And No Name, what to say about you? You have no name, and you are loads of arm pumping, finger numbing fun.
The rest of the race passed without incident, I was determined to finish faster than before, but time kept ticking away. I knew I could make good time once I hit Little Poe Trail (the last trail before Aid Station #5). I got complimented on my line choice by the guy following me. I rolled right through Aid Station #5, and hit it hard down the rail trail, managed to catch one guy and rallied all the energy I could up Old Mingle, managing to drop the guy near the top. I, like many others before and after me, walked most of Fisherman's Path, and began to hammer the last bit of rail trail as hard as I thought I could. Not even a quarter mile from the final just-wider-than-my-bars bridge and the last tunnel, some guy blew by me like I was standing still. Now, I have one goal for these finishing bits, and it's pretty simple: no one passes me with out having to really work for it. I don't care if frikin Fabian Cancellara came by me, he's going to have to work for it (although probably not much). Anyway, no one passes me. So when this guy passed me, I attacked to jump on his wheel. He looked back, and jumped himself. I jumped again, and grabbed his wheel, surprising myself that I had the energy to attack that hard. I thought I was already going as hard as I could. When we came to the bridge, I backed off because he was going way too fast. It took us three or four minor crashes to get across. Once across, he mumbled something to me along the lines of "well that was stupid," so I let him lead into the short tunnel with the rocks. He got off the line, and drifted to the center and ran right into the big, square, mid-thigh height block about 6 m from the end of the tunnel. I took advantage of this and attacked out of the tunnel as hard as I could. I knew there was only 1 mi left until I was done, so I put it all out there. It was enough to put 40 sec on him, as I'm sure he was riding as hard as he could to catch me, but like I said, no one catches me.
So that ended my day. Vegan Rob gave me more good advice to prevent my fueling issues (note to self: listen to Vegan Rob's advice, he is good people), and I tried to put my life back together after completely shattering myself to finish in 9:36:50, a whopping 23 min faster than two years ago. Not really the result I wanted, but I am happy about it. I had fun, and after all, that's what it's all about. I also overcame my inability to ride technical singletrack smoothly after 60 miles of climby roads. In fact, I felt absolutely fantastic after the route turned skinny and rocky. That is the best part. The singletrack always killed me at the 101, but no longer! Now it is the fun it's supposed to be. So now I recover and look ahead...
Moving is next on my list, the the Rattling Creek Marathon, Shenandoah Mountain 100, and cyclocross! Life is full of surprises, and you should learn from all of them. I learned a lot at the 101 this year, and as a scientist, that is good enough for me. Happy Trails!
Race Day:
5:00 AM wake up, eat oatmeal. Realize how damn cold it is outside. Not really cold, just cold for the summer (like in the low 50s). Somehow, there was a nice pocket of wet, cold air hanging over Coburn Saturday morning. I warmed up in my TSE hoodie that I brought. Close to the designated 7:00 AM start, we all started massing on the road. I rolled up next to Vegan Rob, and he told me that he wanted me stuck to his wheel like poo. Good advice, should have taken it. The race starts with a 2 mi neutral roll-out, then a 5 mi climb to spread things out. At the top of the climb, I found myself riding with some old friends, including young local, and ridiculous technical rider Madison. This kid grew up (is growing up?) riding these trails, and it shows. After successfully navigating the corner of death, we formed a group of about eight or nine; four on geared bikes with big rings, and four or five on SS. For some reason all us gearies sat on the wheels of the SS guys. I think it was because we were more than happy to have them help us up little climbs as well as keep us from hammering our asses off on flats or descents and wasting all our energy so early. I ended up letting them go after Aid Station #1 due to a mandatory nature brake. I never really caught Madison again, although I tried to make up some time on Detweiller, he just gapped me again afterwards. Damn. I did catch one of my other paceline mates, Joel, after cleaning 3 Bridges trail in its entirety for the first time. I was happy about that because it's always good to impress the crowd that gathers there. I managed to make it through the rock garden with my minimal trials skills, hopping over the last big rock in my poorly chosen line. Joel dropped me up the next section of road, but I caught back up to him on Little Singletown, which I remember being one of the highlights of my first 101. I pulled him into Aid Station #2. After a bit of solid food, and some fresh bottles, we kept going, eager to hit the hard climbs ahead.
Then the danger began. Once we hit Greenlee (the longest climb?) I started to fade. I got passed by a lot of people. I caught a lot of them down Croyle. Then we hit Seeger (the hardest climb?). Seeger is steep and long. About 2/3 of the way up everything shut down. My head dropped, a bit of tunnel vision set in, and I had to stop. I ate about half a flask of Hammer Gel because I didn't have any real food with me (oops...). I knew I was in trouble when I was having trouble turning over my easiest gearing of 27x34 not because my legs were tired, but because I was having a hard time staying upright on my bike. I wish I could relate in words the soul-crushing bottom I hit, but I can't. Madison's dad caught me once I got going again, and we rallied down Telephone. I cannot express my undying love for Telephone. It is so much fun. I then struggled my way on to Aid Station #3, where my parents were. I ate a lot of food there, mostly Pringles. I knew the next part would be super fun, so I was excited to begin it. Once I hit Sassafrass, the fun began. Fun in the form of the hugely steep descent. I was hoping to overtake any folks on the upper parts of the trail so I could rip it at my own speed, but I ran into a dude just as it started dropping down. We locked bars a bit on the hairy corner and he ended up on top of me cursing. After apologizing profusely, I let him go. I totally took him out, and I feel bad about it. My concentration slipped and I started braking [harder] after he did and was going too fast to cut a tighter line when I realized it, and kind of plowed right into him. No one was injured in this stupidity. I didn't even have any cuts. I would like to say, that he was going down anyway, so I just cushioned his fall; his helmet did end up caught in my bar end. I caught up to him again on the Lewistown Contingent sweetness, but let him go, figuring I could get him again on Beautiful. Ah Beautiful. The perfect trail in any direction. Cleaned it this year. And No Name, what to say about you? You have no name, and you are loads of arm pumping, finger numbing fun.
The rest of the race passed without incident, I was determined to finish faster than before, but time kept ticking away. I knew I could make good time once I hit Little Poe Trail (the last trail before Aid Station #5). I got complimented on my line choice by the guy following me. I rolled right through Aid Station #5, and hit it hard down the rail trail, managed to catch one guy and rallied all the energy I could up Old Mingle, managing to drop the guy near the top. I, like many others before and after me, walked most of Fisherman's Path, and began to hammer the last bit of rail trail as hard as I thought I could. Not even a quarter mile from the final just-wider-than-my-bars bridge and the last tunnel, some guy blew by me like I was standing still. Now, I have one goal for these finishing bits, and it's pretty simple: no one passes me with out having to really work for it. I don't care if frikin Fabian Cancellara came by me, he's going to have to work for it (although probably not much). Anyway, no one passes me. So when this guy passed me, I attacked to jump on his wheel. He looked back, and jumped himself. I jumped again, and grabbed his wheel, surprising myself that I had the energy to attack that hard. I thought I was already going as hard as I could. When we came to the bridge, I backed off because he was going way too fast. It took us three or four minor crashes to get across. Once across, he mumbled something to me along the lines of "well that was stupid," so I let him lead into the short tunnel with the rocks. He got off the line, and drifted to the center and ran right into the big, square, mid-thigh height block about 6 m from the end of the tunnel. I took advantage of this and attacked out of the tunnel as hard as I could. I knew there was only 1 mi left until I was done, so I put it all out there. It was enough to put 40 sec on him, as I'm sure he was riding as hard as he could to catch me, but like I said, no one catches me.
So that ended my day. Vegan Rob gave me more good advice to prevent my fueling issues (note to self: listen to Vegan Rob's advice, he is good people), and I tried to put my life back together after completely shattering myself to finish in 9:36:50, a whopping 23 min faster than two years ago. Not really the result I wanted, but I am happy about it. I had fun, and after all, that's what it's all about. I also overcame my inability to ride technical singletrack smoothly after 60 miles of climby roads. In fact, I felt absolutely fantastic after the route turned skinny and rocky. That is the best part. The singletrack always killed me at the 101, but no longer! Now it is the fun it's supposed to be. So now I recover and look ahead...
Moving is next on my list, the the Rattling Creek Marathon, Shenandoah Mountain 100, and cyclocross! Life is full of surprises, and you should learn from all of them. I learned a lot at the 101 this year, and as a scientist, that is good enough for me. Happy Trails!
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