The past two weekends have been pretty good to me as I traveled from the outside finger of the Michigan mitt too the wilds of Northeast Philadelphia.
Stop number 3 on the National Ultra Endurance series tour took me to Manistee Michigan for the third time to race the Lumberjack 100. This race gets a lot of moaning thrown in it's direction. Maybe people think it betrays the constructed rules of 100 mile racing because it's a....can you believe it?...a . a Lap Race. 25 miles of pure flowing trail, short and punchy, knuckle dragging climbs. It usually starts dragging after the 2nd lap. At that point most riders have been riding above their head for 3-5 hrs, having too much fun while thinking that this trail is pretty easy. Sure it doesn't have long climbs or rocks to suck out the energy, but it's that lack of features that lull you into a false sense of security. Before you know it you've been hammering for way too long and that tent or car with all your stuff in it starts to look real tempting.
Fortunately I brought my Mother along to so support and give me the BS eye in case I wanted to take a break. The face of the competition was it's usual bloated self, full people like Eatough, Schalk, Plews and Tanguy, so I had to be on guard. I was actually excited about the high volume of single track, since I figured I might have an advantage over the people who preferred wide open climbs and road sections. This was definitely a course that favored good handling skills. The first lap was fast but not to blistering. A group of 8 of us got off the front and we rolled the wooded track like it was a fast group ride, the train was in full effect. Coming into the start of the 2nd lap I made my first acceleration. I wanted to get away and push the limits on the corners and punch it up the short climbs. I played the game of listening for other riders' brakes, and staying off mine. The NanoRaptor 29er tires handled the corners like a bailiff handles the accused. I freaking love my Ti 29er deluxe. It corners so great. The pressure worked to shake us down to 5 riders. Eatough, Schalk, Plews, Tanguy and me. The rest of lap 2 was pretty uneventful, besides one blown corner everything was pretty smooth.
Coming into lap three I decided to take the initiative again and repeated the same attack in the first 8 mile section that I tried in lap 2. It was mirror image of the first attack but by the end of it we were down to just three. Eatough and Tanguy fell off, which left just Schalk, Plews and myself. So by the end of the 3rd lap I was having a little physical breakdown. Nutritionally inspired I ate a bunch of gel, slowed it down for a bit, and lost track of Schalk and Plews. Now I was focused on just staying in front of Eatough, and maybe moving back up. After a bit of recovery and never being sure where the Eatough was I was able to pick the speed back up. When I figured Eatough was going to catch me, started saying to myself that he wasn't here yet so keep the pace up.
In the end I was 3rd, 4 minutes back from 1st place Schalk, and 4.5 minutes up on Eatough. I was pretty happy with that gap after 7 hours of racing. I definitely feel as if I'm starting to come back into form. Overall a good race, despite the 11 inches of rain two days before, and the fact that the town of Manistee was shut down without electricity for a day.

Neshaminy short XC

So finally I had a weekend where traveling for multiple days wasn't required. Neshaminy is only about 20 miles from my house, which meant I could ride there if I wanted to. Which I did twice during the week. It was a course where pre-riding paid off in dividends.
I have to admit I was on a bit of a revenge mission after the last Mid-Atlantic Series race where I showed up late and everyone was already on the start line. My mojo blown at that one, I was determined to build it back up for this one. In some cosmic alignment this course had a similar feel to the Lumberjack. Fast course, blind corners and short punchy climbs. It was definitely a more technical course, but the formula 1 skills were important. Advantage was mine since I had ridden the course twice already during the week. I was worried because the second time I rode there was the day before on a 5.5hr ride from home. It was hot, and I wasn't sure how my legs were going to hold up.
Start gun had us plowing through a field, and I went into the track third in line. By the time we had finished the 2 mile prolouge, I was one spot up in 2nd and as we came through a short field section I edged around 1st to get back into the single track first. From that point on I played the no brake game, took the lines smooth and very slowly rode Wes off my wheel. The course was most brutal because of the lack of places for recovering. The heat helped keep the Heart Rate up and at one point I saw a 194 HR. For me that's outrageous when compared to 100miler outputs.
Enough of the numbers. So racing went on, Topher's girlfriend did righteous bottle feeds, and i watched as young buck Aaron Snyder crept up on me. I let off the gas a tad to recover and when he came up to my rear wheel, I pushed the pace back up. Fortunately that was enough to watch him fade back as slowly but surely at the speed at which he crept up. I punched the last couple of climbs, put the nail in the coffin and rolled across the finish line 20sec up on Snyder.
It was a good race, just my style and I felt a little vindicated after the last MASS race.

This weekend is a short race, then I'm off for three days of Tour De Burg in the middle of next week, then cap the weekend off with the three day Marysville stage race. Thennnn I'm going to CA for the Downieville Classic. And Then....Mt Snow, National Championships.

Hopefully I'll be doing this in two weeks.

I bagged my best ever result with a second at Mountain Mayhem the World's largest 24 hour - I am smiling and consuming lots of beer! oh and plotting the next move!

I can now savour a great result at Mountain Mayhem. The Big one - now officially the world's largest 24 had 500 teams and 150 solos. After not riding much at all in the last month this was an absolute result... I was hoping for 5th! The solo at Mayhem is the one to win and is always stacked with perennial favourites, new kids and dangerous foreigners!.

The third stop in the NUE series was one to remember with epic storms and floods the night before and a near perfect course except for a few blow downs and about a 1/2 mile section of mud bogs. The mostly sand course held up extremely well to the torrential rains, which actually seemed to keep the sand and dust to a minimum.

After a Friday's worth of driving I was more than happy to arrive in some cabins just outside the venue on Friday night. The drive wasn't bad just tedious with the first leg to Ann Arbor, where I met up with Steve and made the rest of the trip to Manisee National Forest.

Five o'clock on raceday sure comes around fast, eat breakfast, get dressed, hop in the van for 5 minutes, pick up packets, spin out, see some familiar faces, and the race begins.

I hadn't heard much about this race other than two things: it is 4 x 25 mile loops of pure singletrack and "I hope you like sand."

The race started and I fought for position watching the front pack head into the woods trying to hang with some people who were hopefully going my pace. The first lap tells me that I'm feeling alright and that this is not going to be my course. I forgot how flat Michigan is with lots of small up and downs and non stop pedaling. I prefer course with quite a few big climbs followed by big descents.

1 Lap down 3 to go. I head into the second lap after a short pit stop and the 1st lap euphoria slowly wears off. I begin to think of the race as being similar to a mile from high school track. First lap- run a descent split, second lap - run about the same pace, third lap- don't blow up, bell lap- the finish is in sight don't ease off the throttle. The second lap goes fine and I start to pass a few racers, not too bad.

2 down 2 to go. I roll into the pits with 4:16 or so on the clock and start to dream. Wow this is really going well, keep eating, keep drinking, keep spinning. The third lap treats me pretty well until the section after the mid lap aid station. This section of trail just seemed to take me forever. As I head into the mod bogs once again, I find them unrideable this time as too many racer have been through already softening the soil to the point where my bottom bracket sunk below the mud. I quickly find an alternate route along the side, through the woods, and make my way out of the mess. I spend lots more time pedaling wondering when the end of the third lap is about to come. At about this same time I start to feel a sharp pain in between my shoulder blades, which isn't helping the cause.

3 down 1 to go. After the third lap I decide that I can maybe finish in under 9 hours, which is not that bad for me considering it will be faster than I have finished at the Mohican which was 9:14
As I rode into the fourth lap I was still thinking high school mile, stay conservative but you are so close, keep on the gas for a strong finish. The first loop of the course goes by feeling ok for 75+ miles in. I roll into the mid lap aid station feeling with my stomach upset and back hurting. Stop and eat a little drink some water. Then latch on with a girl who looked so fresh I thought she had only done 2 laps, but it turns out she has done 3 and is in second in the females. dang! I hang with her for a while but again my back and tiring legs along with my upset stomach gets the best of me. More slummin. Keep the pedals turning and don't think about all the finish I think. Thing start to look better still hoping for under 9. Thing get worse. I roll up to some riders on their 3rd lap and see Kerry. We sort of cheer each other on which helps. More slummin, when does the pedaling end. I finally roll into the finish in 9:04. I'll be ready for the Wilderness 101 with my position changed to help my back and a better race nutrition plan.

IF racing rounded out the weekend with Harlan Price finishing 3rd, Kerry Combs in 11th, and Alex Kopko in 25th. Harlan's cyclingnews report and results here.

Labels: lumberjack, michigan, nue

The race this year in Richmond started off for me at 3:30am in the morning. I'm one who enjoys sleeping in his own bed so I decided to wake up early and drive the three hours from Chapel Hill, NC to Richmond. Unfortunately when preparing my race-day checklist I had forgotten to put goggles on the list. This oversight had me turning my car around about 15 to 20 minutes into the drive. In the back of my mind I thought it would be possible to do the swim without goggles but then realized I was suffering from temporary insanity and needed to go back and get them.

The drive to Richmond was uneventful and, with return trip included, I managed to get there at 7:15am. The race start was scheduled for 8:30am so I had plenty of time to set up my transition area and warm-up for the competition. As with most XTERRA races the 8:30am start time came and went leaving everyone to wait another 15 minutes before the race commenced. In that time I was able to swim out onto the course and get a feel for the current and underwater terrain. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of swimming in the James River to say that there were a few rocks (more like boulders) to climb over would be an understatement. Swimming is definitely my weakest leg of the triathlon so the extra obstacles would be sure to make my experience in the water much more enjoyable.

As the start of the race approached I noticed another IF team kit floating in water. The person in the kit turned out to be fellow XTERRA racer Mark Russell. Mark and I raced Richmond together last year and it was great having him back to share with me in the pain that is off-road triathlon.

The gun sounded and the swim was underway. If the boot I received in my face at the start was any indication of how the swim was going to go I was in for a long effort. The first part of the swim was rather chaotic but once everyone settled in to their stroke it was much more manageable. In true XTERRA style the whole course was littered with boulders you either swam over or swam into. After hitting every body part imaginable on a rock I emerged from the swim leg. Other than a bloody shin I was fairly unscathed from the river carnage.

I had a quick swim to bike transition and was now off to tackle the urban singletrack that awaited me. On the bike leg I was riding a Steel Deluxe Singlespeed, my dream machine. The singlespeed served me well in my last XTERRA (special thanks to Rob at Back Alley Bikes for putting my bike back together) race but today it would show me no love. I felt good the entire bike leg but was unable to use fitness due to the large amount of flat fire road and paved road sections on the course. My day on the bike was spent passing people on the singletrack and climbs, watching them pass me on the flats, and then having to pass them again on the singletrack and climbs. The one bright spot on the bike was seeing Mark Russell having a great effort and being able to ride with him for a while. I think next time I will be running gears on this bike course.

My transition went well and I had a feeling I was going to have a good run. I was able to settle into a nice pace and pick up quite a few fellow racers on the way to the finish. Climbing up the Aztec steps was quite taxing on my already cramped and fatigued hamstrings so it was a wonder I was able to run straight off them. The last part of the run I started to feel the heat of the Richmond sun and I was very happy to see the finish just ahead. Crossing the line was sweet relief.

Despite having a mediocre bike leg I was able to drop six minutes from my previous best time at Richmond. I also cracked the top 10 in the 30-34 age group and garnered 49 points. These are points that will help me qualify for the national championship race in Lake Tahoe, NV. The race of the day goes to fellow IF triathlete Mark Russell. He dropped more than 20 minutes off his time from last year, very impressive on a challenging course like Richmond.

All in all I had a great time and after the race I was able to catch up with Mark and another IF racer Jeff Herrick. After a long day of racing there is nothing a few Cokes and a great burger can't fix. Thanks again for picking such a great spot Jeff.

I look forward to punishing my body again real soon.

Steve

So that was hard...

Housatonic's one of the few races that caters to climbers. Two years ago, in my
first shot at the Pro 1-2 race I was popped halfway through the first lap. Last
year I made it to the finishing climb and finished mid-field. This year I wanted
to be better. This year they made the race even harder.

Bruno, Adam, Todd, Thomas, Jeromino, and I represented FT/IF pb Lionette's. Due
to construction, they cut out a portion of the course, instead running us over
the finishing climb three times and then finishing at the bottom. To add back
the distance, they tacked on a new, hard-as-hell loop. Nice.

Lap one hurt for all of us. My legs came around just in time for the first real
time up the big climb and I got over the top with the lead group of 10 or so.
The field came back together some, but in a much shrunken variety with maybe 50,
including Adam and me, left. Next lap, I got over the top with Jamey Driscoll
and Josh Lipka (FdF) 10 seconds off the lead group of 15 or so. Jamey and I made
it back on at the top of the next climb. And there I was, sitting in a rather
stacked and intimidating lead group as the attacking, mostly from Spinelli (KBS)
and Jamey, started. An acceleration with fewer than 10 miles to go did me in and
I rolled in for 14th, between the lead group and the "field." Jamey managed
second, maybe he'll share prize moneys. At least there was lemonade. So that's
nice.

Better this year, but there's still room for improvement. It was an awesome,
truly hard race.

Oh, also, the course included several fast, twisty descents. I weigh 135 and
drop rather slowly, so getting low is especially important for me. No bike I've
ever ridden even comes close to how well my IF descends. Confidence inspiring is
an understatement.

Until next time,
Kevin

So my first road race of the year and I choose to race the Housatonic Hills race. In honor of brevity.....56 miles, Masters 35+, 6000 feet of climbing, Roger Aspholm off the front solo by 4:00. With that said, it was fun though. A great challenging race put on by the good guys of the Zephyr squad. Got to see some of our IF heavies do their thing but hopefully they will post the details. Tuesday crit and hopefully some improved fitness by July 1st.Martin

Jon, Todd, Adam, Jerome, and myself went into Reading hoping for a good result
in front of some important promoters and several wonderfully friendly Carpenter
employees. The course was an 8-corner, 1.5ish mile course with a gradual uphill
in the first half and a gradual downhill in the second half. Not super technical
if not for the holes, brick cross-walks, and patches of fresh pavement scattered
on the course.

Todd reminded me and Adam to stay patient and make any moves count. We all
followed orders and sat patient for most of the first part of the 25-mile race,
staying close enough to the front to stay safe and avoid any gaps from the many
dropped riders (over half the field DNF'ed). As the race wound down, Todd and I
put ourselves in a few promising moves, including a super-strong one from Todd
in the last 3 laps. Unfortunately the long downhill section of the course and
short nature of the race spelled doom for any breaks, and with 1 lap to go Adam,
Jerome, and I set up for a field sprint.

Team Dynaflo (full of former pro's brought in specially for the Commerce Bank
races) set up a fantastic lead out in the last half lap. With two corners to go
and three Dynaflo guys at the front, I was top 10 and Adam on me. Shortly before
the downhill into the second to last corner, Jason Snow (right in front of me)
moved up a couple of spots. I hesitated, partly figuring that the slightly
uphill sprint would give a chance to move up, partly just being dumb. My
mistake. So I went into the last corner in 10th and that's where I stayed (3rd
u23). Adam finished 13th. Not a bad day, but it could've been better. We
definitely showed ourselves as a strong team, and after the two crits of the
week I was, I believe, top 3 overall u23.

I can also speak for the whole team in thanking Carpenter Technology again for a
fantastic visit Wednesday and post-race BBQ Thursday. We couldn't have felt more
welcome. They gave us a wonderful reception with Carpenter management, some
delicious food, a bit of time to meet bunches of enthusiastic employees thrilled
to see the beautiful IF SSR stainless steel bike, and a fascinating tour of the
breathtaking Carpenter Mill (town?). It really is a cool company, and if the
incredible quality of their products isn't made clear enough by their massive
success, it's plainly obvious in the IF bikes that benefit from Carpenter's
work. We can't wait to be back soon.

IF riders were well represented at the Mohican 100 with Harlan Price 5th Overall, Alex Kopko 23rd, Trish Stevenson 5th in Womens, Chris Wurster 3rd in Masters and Kerry Combs 11th in Womens in the 100km.

And now for the summary of the weekend's events and trust me it was something else.

I thought I had seen the worst of it when first a deer ran across the highway 50 yards up the road. Then on the other side of the highway I saw a deer with it's head buried in a bag running in circles in the middle lane, the last sight being the smoking wheels of a semi. As I crossed into the heartland of America the body count kept rising, stopping at 32 by the time I arrived at Camp Nuhop. Certainly it could only get better from here, but it was not to be the case.

Setting up camp next to me were Eddie & Greg from Team Seagal, a single speed team based out of St. Louis. Giving the cult-like status to such a great actor as Steven Seagal, the team finds it's inspirational guidance from the Steven Seagal heads carried on each handle bar, chanting the mantra "Superior Attitude, Superior State of Mind". They are fueled by PBR and were very clear they were about going out on the course to "snap some wrists" the following morning.

And sure enough as we rolled out of town by the second climb Team Seagal had come along side and they had a look in their eyes that would make children run and orthopedic surgeons smile.

The first 34-40 miles were on what I am sure is beautiful single track when it is dry but this is the morning after thunderstorms that sparked tornado warnings the night before (we were warned to grab toto and head for the basement if the sirens came on) and now it was mud coupled with short steep climbs and no place to get a good pace going - just the kind of course I don't enjoy!

Finally coming out of the woods I felt like it was long past the time to be back at the car having a beer and relaxing. But I was still in the running and there was that lingering fear of having a wrist or two snapped if I didn't catch Team Seagal. Shorty after getting on the roads the body count began to pile up again and in one stretch at the top of a climb the scene was something like this

only it was four in a row and smelled worse then the gloves on my hands. Will the carnage ever end?

I continued with the mental tug-of-war about whether to bag it or keep going (amazing the games your mind can play when you put in a 40+ hour week in 3 days and don't sleep all that much), grinding away the miles riding with the Rebecca from team Wake & Bake and then more single speeders until we were a group of 7 riding a pace line on the endless miles of rail trail, which was a nice place to get some additional recovery in!

While in last in the pace line all of the sudden my chain breaks while I am coasting and before I know it the pack is gone and I am on my own trying to fix a chain with no reading glasses....the downside to being a Master! Few minutes later and it was back on the trail grinding away. At aid stations 4&5 my requests for EPO went unanswered so it was time to push on to the dam marking the final climb of the race.

On the preride yesterday it was impressive looking from the top but the view from the bottom was like looking up Mt. Everest, and after 97 miles of riding with my trusty sherpa no where in sight it was going to be quite a climb. Inspired by some beer swilling locals chanting at the top, I shouldered the bike and found the strength to make the climb and ride the ensuing climb to finally close out one of the more painful days of riding I can remember, coming home what at the time was recorded as second.

The final kick in the teeth was finding out they missed Greg Turner, yes he is that fast and giving me that much of an ass kicking, and I found after all the drinking that I was not in second but had ended up in third....trust me I am not complaining about that either.

As a thank you to the hosts, Camp Nuhop and on behalf of Independent Fabrication, I donated my prize money to the camp, one for the kids!

Hard ride, great reward, good karma and oh yeah I managed to bring it home ahead of Eddie and Greg so no broken wrists! In fact it turned into a session of Del Maguay Mezcal and PBRs. The night was beautiful and with a bit of arm twisting Team Seagal camped out. Nice surprise when at 2 am the thunder came roaring in and the rain came down in buckets. Sorry about that one guys.

We drove up to Auburn, ME to contest the 84 mile, rolling Auburn Road Race. Last year we go 4th place and Andrew was 3rd, while riding for CL Noonan. This year we wanted to win it and rode a great race, placing 4th (Adam) and 5th (Todd)

The real story is the weather and life in the car. Adam, Greg, Ellen (Adam's Mom) and I drove up from Boston and traded Greg for Andrew on the way home.

Here is the photo essay:

Rocking the Team wear


Sunny in Boston

Only a quarter in the jar so far


Not so in Maine



Adding up

"Does my mouth move when I pretend to read"

Ode to last night


Want some pretzaaalzz?



Ahhhh

It kept adding up