Pontiac XC

Sunday, August 24 was the Pontiac Lake XC which is event #7 of the Michigan USAC series. The rain the night before had made the trail fast and tacky. Conditions were ideal and the usual vibe at Pontiac was great.

The Elite/Expert singlespeed class start was fast and furious. I hung with the group through the first lap but started to fall off the pace by the start of lap 2. After some hike-a-bike up the first big climb I took in a gel and some fluids and rebounded. I settled in and was able to pick off several riders to finish 6th with a time of 1:32.41. I was happy with my bike handling and choice of gearing. Although the result wasn't the best, the effort was good and it was another fantastic day to race. What a great weekend! RESULTS.

Maybury Time Trial

Saturday, August 23'rd marked the 6th race of the MMBA CPS series. The Maybury Time Trial was held at Maybury State Park. The course was short (8 miles) and the trail was dry and dusty. The Chapter that hosted the event re-arranged the start times in order for the Beginners to race first and have the opportunity to hang around and watch the Elite & Expert riders. As a result, I spend the greater part of the day hanging around the team compound, snacking, pre-riding with anyone and trying to stay cool. My start time was 1430 and I was the first rider in the singlespeed class. My teammate, Daniel (with Abe Lincoln beard) was 30 seconds behind me and once out on the trail he kept "talkin' smack" at every switchback as he eventually reeled me in with a mile to go. My left calf started to cramp on the asphalt road leading toward the finish. I pushed and finished 6th at 37:45.42. It was a good day to race and the team had some great results in their respective classes. Results HERE.
Jeff Wittbrodt (J-Dub) on his way to setting the fastest time of the day.

Ft. Custer Time Trial

Today was the 5th and final race of the Tailwind Time Trial series. This is the 13th year this best 3 out of 5 race series has been running in Michigan. Since I had 2 races under my belt I made it a point to enter and make a go at an overall series award. I decided to run my full-suspension rig in the 50+ Expert group and my singlespeed in the SS class. What lacked in this decision process was trail conditions and tire selection. Heck, it never even crossed my mind. The last time I rode Ft. Custer it was wet and tacky. A rain-free month later and I assumed this was a non-issue. DOH. I soon discovered an abundance of powdery, dry sand. I went with a Geax Barro Race semi-slick and went down hard on the first corner within a quarter mile of the start. I found myself on the edge fighting it the entire 14 miles. The trail was the standard Red loop and Green loop although half of the Green loop had been reversed. I struggled and came in 3rd with a time of 1:08:xx.


After the geared race I rode down to the lake and jumped in. It really helped cool my core down and I made my way back to my car, changed clothes and swapped out bikes. All I could say about the singlespeed is that it was a completely different experience. My legs didn't feel very fresh and I had to walk a couple of climbs. Otherwise, it was awesome. The big tires floated through the sand and I could dive into the corners without fear of sliding out. I lost time on some of the long flats but still finished at 1:10:xx placing 8th in the Elite/Expert SS Class. We hear it all the time but I'll say it again, trail conditions and tire selection are important factors to consider as part of your pre-race stategy. What a great day of racing! Gnarly can be a good thing.

Back2back2back Time Trials

I don't know how this happened but I seem to have scheduled a series of time trials for this portion of the season. Simply stated, I suck at Time Trials. The Ft. Custer Time Trial is on August 17 followed by the Maybury Time Trial on August 23. Two separate series. I think I may have to reconsider the USAC series for next year as I prefer the schedule and venues much more. "It's all good". It's great to live and race where there are so many choices.

Stoney Creek Time Trial

It's a wrap. Today was the Stoney Creek Time Trial at Stoney Creek Metro Park near Rochester, MI. This event always draws a large number of riders, Dark Horses, Roadies and local riders who can't pass this race up. The 13 mile lap consists of stream crossings, singletrack, double-track and a couple of half-mile stretches along the park road on the grass. Going out against the wind on the grass made it feel like my tires were flat while towing a boat anchor. I had my heart-rate spiked right off the bat. I decided to race my age group (50+ Expert) on the geared bike and then run the singlespeed in the Expert/Elite category.

The weather was perfect and we had many Greyhounds on hand to help set up the posh team compound.

My geared race was at 1015 and I was paired up with Calvin Stewart, one of the faster 50+ dudes in the area at the start line. He went out first along the road and I stuck to his wheel while he pushed the pace and the wind heading to the first water crossing. Once across the creek he kept pushing and I started to drop off as we hit the first climbs. Pretty soon he was gone and I pushed to stay ahead of the riders behind me. The full suspension was a treat and felt great on the descents and rough areas. I made a wrong turn mid-way in and ended up way off course. I turned around and retraced my route until I found the trail. I lost a few precious minutes in the process. DOH! The second creek crossing exit was funky and I just hoofed it up the bank through the mud. Sprint to the finish with a time of 54.02 placing 2nd in my class. It felt pretty good. I had about an hour before the next start. I changed my socks, swapped out bikes and re-hydrated. The 29'er felt good and the Maxxis Ignitor tires were hooking up really well in the loose turns. There were 15 riders in my group and I was passed by several guys about a third of the way in. I felt pretty good and hung with them for a bit and eventually got back around them. That was a highlight. A younger rider(pretty much everyone in this class)blew past me near the last climb and I jumped on his wheel until the last stream crossing. Once across it is a mile flat on gravel and grass back to the finish line. I went around him and knew he would try and nip me at the finish. I pushed hard in the sprint to the finish and beat him to the line by a foot. Unfortunately, he had started a minute behind me so he still placed ahead of me.


My time was 54:48. Just a few seconds slower than the geared bike. Considering all the time lost spinning out on the 2-track I am surprised by the time. It was a great day for a race. The trail rocked and the team did fantastic! PARTY!
Results here:

Next up...Stoney Creek Time Trial

This Sunday, July 27 will be race #5 of the MMBA Championship Points Series. The race is a time trial format taking place at Stoney Creek Metro Park near Rochester, MI. This race attracts a large field and although I usually feel as if I ride it well, I never end up placing well. My sprint skillz suck. I've decided to enter my age group (50+ Expert) and ride at 10:15 to warm up on the FS. I will then race my series category on the singlespeed at 12:15. Event flyer HERE.
Here is the 13 mile course layout narrated by my teammate, Ritzy. Click on the image for additional detail. PARTY!

Tour de France 2008

Today is Stage 17. I haven't been able to get anything done while the Tour has been on the tube. In the dead of winter I'm really gonna miss it. This is easily one of the best stages. The 21 famous switchbacks of L'Alpe d'Huez among the Oisans and the Romanche Valley. L'Alpe d'Huez will be the last chance for CSC to put time into Cadel Evans. If Frank Schleck or Carlos Sastre don't put more than a couple minutes on the time-trialer then it's pretty much over. Here is a breakdown of the 3 climbs included in this years stage.
The three hors catégorie climbs of stage 17:
Col du Galibier, 20.9 km at 5.6%
Col de Croix-de-Fer, 29.2 km at 5.2%
L'Alpe d'Huez, 13.3 km at 8.6%
I'll never complain about the hills here in Michigan again! Click on the image for a larger view.

Boyne Marathon XC

It's a done deal. The Boyne Marathon lived up to it's reputation as one of the most demanding XC events Michigan has to offer. The weekend started for me on Friday, July 11 as I made preparations and set out for Boyne Mountain, about 250 miles North of fabulous Garden City. It was warm and muggy and the forecast called for rain Saturday. I arrived at the "round cabin" in the woods a couple of miles West of Boyne Mountain.

Team mates Glen "Shakey" and Ali "Mudshine" arranged the ideal hook-up for some nearby lodging. The Yurt-Cabin ROCKS!

Within 1 hour after arriving there was a commotion out on the road in front of the cabin. We went out to find this pick-up truck smoking and thought the engine was on fire. After finding a container to hold water (trash can) Glen delivered the H2O and they determined the smoke was coming from a burning brake rotor.

Soon the volunteer fire department arrived and doused the offending wheel. Very thrilling stuff!

After a nice dinner we went down the road to Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix. Boyne City is a very cool little town with access to Lake Michigan that draws people in boats from Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. There was a car and boat show going on in the street. We were just trying to score some ice cream in a sea of people.


Is bigger really better?

Now to the race. Woke up on Saturday to a little rain. It was overcast and conditions were good. Oatmeal, banana and coffee. Good to go.

The Dog Pound:

Daniel & Jennifer:

Start of the Expert Men's race:

Lining up for the start in the Advanced Single Speed class with only 5 riders I should of realized then that this was a sign. The remaining 50-75 riders entered into the Elite, Sport and Beginner classes chose to ride with more than one gear. What was I thinking?
The promoter combined my class with the Expert 50+ men and I soon found many of the riders clogging the singletrack within the first 2 miles of lap 1. The trail was tough. On the rigid singlespeed I found myself standing and pulling myself up the steep trail at a very low cadence trying to get around geared riders who were spinning their granny gear at 100 RPM's. I found it difficult to gain and capture any momentum and I found myself standing for every climb as well as standing for the descents. My legs were on fire. I had a small bobble on a descent and went over the handlebars in a reverse-pirouette and found myself face-to-face with other riders bombing down the trail. No injury. OK. Re-group. There was very little saddle time to allow any rest and by lap 2 I was dropping off the pace fast. Lap 2 was a blur and I found myself walking many of the climbs. The sun came out and the sweat was pouring off me. I was taking in plenty of fluids and nutrition and had no cramping. Lap 3 was even slower and halfway through I got "chicked" (passed) by a very talented Elite women's rider, Jessica Woodard who was riding singlespeed. "It's all good" as I trudged up many of the hills and pushed hard to get it done. I finished 3-12.5 mile laps in 3:13:04 and placed 5th (last) in my class. I heard many other riders mention the trail this year placed more demands on the riders. It was a great effort and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year, only faster. This trail can only make you a better rider.
Preparing for the kids race:

Pimpin' on the road to recovery:

Next up...Boyne Marathon.

Saturday, July 12 will be the date for the Boyne Marathon XC at the fabulous Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls, MI. This is stop #4 of the MMBA Championship Points Series and this event will count for double points. For Michigan standards, Boyne Mountain offers up some substantial vertical and the trail truly provides a challenge. Three 12.5 mile laps on my rigid Singlespeed should provide plenty of abuse for me and my body. Sweet. Event flyer. I'll be back with a race report and photos. PARTY!

Quad Pontiac Challenge!

Ritzy and Pimp-Daddy (a.k.a. The Bouncer) post ride:

On Sunday, June 29 our team held an informal off-road event dubbed the Quad Pontiac Challenge. This was stop #4 of the team training series of events scheduled to prepare us for Time Trails, Crits, and MTB racing. Pontiac Lake Recreation Area in Waterford, MI features a sweet 10 mile trail that has a bit of everything that characterizes Michigan singletrack. Smooth flowing singletrack through thick forest. Technical climbs, rock gardens, and bombing descents. The trail was in good shape despite the recent rains and the turnout of riders was good. The plan was simple. All riders start at the same time and are required to make 1 stop back at the parking lot before completing the 4th lap. In theory this should work as long as you have someone keeping time. Daniel forgot the stopwatch so we were on our own. I was riding singlespeed and turned 2 laps, went back to switch water bottles and finished the last 2 laps. J-Dub finished 1st and I came in second about 15 minutes back. There were only 4 riders who rode the full 4 laps while most did 3. I rocked the singlespeed and was very happy to be able to push it hard on this unforgiving trail. If I had been riding alone I easily would have given up after a couple of laps. Great time!
J-Dub:

June 08 mileage

June has come and gone. It was a very wet month which resulted in less off-road rides and more mileage on the pavement. Considering the bulk of this mileage started March 1st I am now at the halfway point for my mileage goal for this year. PARTY!
View Larger Map

June Rides = 19
Distance = 682.26 (miles)
Average Speed = 16.70 (mph)
Ride Time = 43:49:01 (hh:mm:ss)

YTD Rides = 73
Distance = 2,508.89 (miles)
Average Speed = 16.76(mph)
Ride Time = 156:07:49(hh:mm:ss)

Dr. TK Lawless Time Trial

There is a park and trail located just 15 miles from my house in Edwardsburg called Dr TK Lawless park. For some strange reason whenever I refer to this park it conjurs up images of Dan Ackroyd in his Dr. Detroit role.

It turns out Dr Lawless was an amazing man and donated many tracts of land for use as parks in Southwest Michigan. While home for the weekend I chose to do this Time Trial although it's not part of any series I'm involved with it but still 100 times better than mowing the lawn. Since the Experts start early I decided to ride the 50+ Expert on my singlespeed rather than wait until the Singlespeed class at 1230. The trail was in great shape and it was sunny and humid at the start. I went with a 32x16x29'er and the gearing was perfect for this course. The trail resembles Lakeshore and Maybury with lots of tight turns and a few steep climbs. The course length was 14 miles. For some reason the "day-of" riders started before the pre-registered riders and I knew there was a swarm of fast riders behind me as we started in 30 sec. intervals. I was reeled in by fellow 50+ rider, Calvin Stewart at the 10 mile mark and pushed pretty hard to stay with him after he made his pass. I stuck with him but he had started a good minute behind me and he ended up finishing first and I ended up in third with a time of 1:05:xx. That's a stand-in on the top spot.

As soon as we finished a storm blew through and dumped on the Sport riders.

I was glad I rode early, got 'er done, and made it home in time for lunch. TK Lawless is a great out-of-the-way trail located in Southwest Michigan.

Lumberjack 100

It's a wrap. I came, I rode, I finished. The weekend started with the drive to Big M ski area for packet pick-up and to set up the team tent and get some dinner.





We got the hook-up at a nearby fly fishing lodge and the place was ideal considering there is very little lodging in the area. 0500 Saturday morning, ate some cereal, fruit and we were off to the start.


Conditions were perfect although there had been a great deal of rain in the area, the course was 97% dry. The temperature was in the 70's with clear skies. It was a little hectic getting ready and such and I found my normal routine was out the window. Start time was 0700 and the start line was 2 miles from our team pit, so I was scrambling to get ready and out to the start line where everyone was staging. I found my way to the back of the line, turned around and we were off. Fun and games.

I chose to hang back and avoid getting caught up in the pack frenzy. I though this would allow things to thin out before we hit the singletrack. Wrong. 100 yards into the trail is a large climb where everyone was forced to push their bike up. After 200 riders trudge up the soft sand the hill was unrideable (for me at least). This caused riders to bunch together and it took a full lap to spread the field. The majority of lap 1 it was difficult to establish a good rythm due to the stop and go. The trail is 100% singletrack and has a variety of long climbs and fast sweeping descents through wooded forest. The sandy soil was packed down well from the recent rains and was very smooth. There are no fire roads to rest, zone out and/or recover on so you have to be on it the entire 25 mile loop. The other 3% of the trail was under water. The depth was knee deep and consisted of a mix of wood pulp, silt, water, mud and resembled a bayou. It was unrideable and there was no way to avoid it. My feet were toast with the combination of fine silt swirling around inside. Lap 2 was much better with the field strung out. My nutrition/hydration plan was working and I felt good. Hammer Nutrition is amazing stuff. On lap 3 at about the 65 mile mark I felt like I hit a wall and things were becoming difficult. Even small hills that I had no problem with earlier felt like they were getting steeper and I had to spin easy to clear them. My AVG speed was plummeting. I had completed lap 3, took a brief rest, and assembled with my teammates for lap 4 prior to the 4:30pm cut-off. We (Daniel, K-Diddy and I) were in survival mode for the final lap. K-Diddy mentioned we should ride together to the aid station prior to the bayou. He said it was not the usual aid station at events with cups of questionable water and warm HEED. This place had everything you could ever dream of. I had passed up this aid station 3 times since I was carrying everything I needed and I was curious to see what he was talking about. I was not disappointed. Their inventory resembled a 7-11. The friendly girl working there poured me a cold Coke, I ate watermelon, strawberries, a banana, a PBJ finger sandwich, an Oreo and I was golden. We started off towards the swamp and the finish. I wanted to get it over with and was feeling a second wind (I think it was the Coke)and pushed it hard to the finish. My un-official time (excluding breaks) was 9:53:04 over 102.25 miles. What a great event. I am ready to come back next year and now have a personal time to beat. More photos here.
Results:
95th Overall (out of 250 entrants)
8th Place in 50+ division
11h:18m:47s

Next up... Lumberjack 100!

Lumberjack trophy's.

This Saturday, June 14 will undoubtedly be my hardest race ever, the Lumberjack 100. The Lumberjack is stop #3 on the National Ultra Endurence Series with 100 miles (4-25 mile laps) of sweet singletrack (no 2 track roads to recover on) in the Manistee National Forest. My strategy is simple, to be the turtle and finish the race. We (3 other teammates) have a cabin reserved nearby and I can only hope the weather cooperates. The challenge of an epic event such as this looming ahead is very exciting. PARTY!

Hanson Hills XC

Start: Got my game face on putting the psych to the competition.

Sunday, June 1 was an exceptional day for cross country racing. This was stop #3 of the MMBA Championship Points Series (CPS). The venue was the Hanson Hills Ski area in Grayling, MI. Hanson Hills is one of many mom & pop ski areas around the state that offer relief from the modern day resorts. Most of these areas feature great singletrack and Hanson Hills always delivers a great ride. The trail has been expanded to a 10 mile loop through fern covered forest with lots of up's and downs and maintaining momentum is essential. The start was fast and I was spinning out on the 2 track while the lead group left me in the dust heading into the singletrack. There was only one rider left behind me and I was stuck behind an Expert dude(Jeff Socia) who had just finished his geared race and needed some additional abuse riding singlespeed. His gearing resembled a Track bike and I could not get around him while he struggled to get up the first series of climbs. I finally got around him when he overshot a turn and I started to pick up my pace. The group in front of me was long gone. Eventually, I passed a few more riders and came up on fellow Greyhound, Jeff Wittbrodt halfway on lap 1. I found it was great to have a teammate out there with me and we continued to exchange leads and push the pace for the remainder of lap 1. I kept hydrating, took in 1 gel and my legs felt very good. On lap 2 Jeff dropped back and I rode alone waiting for either himself or a pack of Sport riders to overtake me. This helped motivate me as I kept the pace high and pushed right to the end. The 29 wheels and rigid setup worked well for me. The wheels flattened out a lot of the small bumps. My gearing (32X18) sucked on the 2 track but allowed me to ride the hills and maintain a good speed in the singletrack. I finished with a time of 1:37:ish and placed 4th in my class.
Finish: Glen, Di-Bear and myself hamming it up with our swag bandanas.

May mileage/training re-cap

Well, May has come and gone and the riding conditions were exceptional off-road as well as on the road. The bulk of my miles came on the road, usually prior to work. Weekends were for off-road races and training. I would like to increase the road distances per ride throughout June and I just need to wake up earlier to get this done. I feel good.

May Rides - 17
Distance - 581.99 miles
Avg. Speed - 15.74 mph
Ride time - 39:06:42

YTD Rides - 53
Distance - 1786.46 miles
Avg. Speed - 16.72
Ride time - 110:15:46

My Cycling Vacation

I have just returned from an incredible road trip out West to visit family and ride as much as possible. It was just me, my Kona FS, CX200 and 2 weeks off of work. Arkansas and New Mexico are not considered "cycling meccas" but it was apparent that there were plenty of places to ride great terrain. I left the day following the Woodland Lanes Fundraiser and stopped at my house in Edwardsburg, MI to spend a few days with the family.

Then it was off to Fayetteville, Arkansas to visit my mom. I had just missed the Joe Martin Stage Race which looks like a pretty cool event for the area. Maybe next year. The roads in the area are unsafe for road riding so to make my mom happy I rode off-road. My first day was at Lake Leatherwood near Eureka Springs. The rock formations and trails were technical and a blast to ride. Trail review.
Beacham Trail

Miners Rock


Sink Hole next to the trail (or it could be considered a skylight if you were at the bottom looking up).

More rock formations. Some of the local huckers have discovered that certain stone outcrops make great launch pads.


Lake Leatherwood dam


The following day was spent at Hobbs State Park in Rogers, ARK. The trail system consists of Stacked Loops. These are various trails which connect and can be rode in any direction through 2nd growth forest. Less technical, flowing singletrack and very fun to ride.
My last day was spent trying to ride Devils Den State Park, home of the Arkansas State Mountain Bike Championships. Due to the heavy rains a portion of the primo Fossil Flats trail was washed out and off limits. I broke out the road bike bike and found some long steep hills to ride on. The best part was a stretch of highway climbing out of a Lee River valley with ten 180 degree switchbacks. It wasn't the Alps but it was amazingly scary fast coming back down!
Lee River

After a few more days in Arkansas it was off to Ruidoso, New Mexico to visit my brother and sister-in-law. The fire danger was EXTREME and all the State forests were closed so I headed out on some of the most excellent New Mexico roads. High desert plains with long climbs and descents, altitude, wind, zero traffic (or humans) and an occassional cattle grate to bunny hop. All just a stone's throw from Roswell.
The road to Capitan, NM.

Even the roadside cows are at risk.

My bro and I tangling with the local wildlife.

Portales, New Mexico loves their Greyhounds. Everywhere I looked the Greyhound was King!


The next and final stop was to head North and visit my other brother in Durango and ride the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Due to a scheduling conflict (my bad) I made the decision to bag the race and head home to attend my son's HS graduation. It was a good call as it turns out the powers that be decided to dump a foot of snow on Silverton and the road race was cancelled. I was sooooo close to finally doing this incredible ride from Durango to Silverton. Again, maybe next year.