24 Hour Burn 2010

   The 24 Hour Burn us one of the largest mountain bike races on the East Coast. Over 350 riders, solo and on teams turned out for a full day of the pain train. Last I (Cliff) attempted a solo ride. I had to abandon after 9 hours with saddle sores. This year it would be a team race with fellow Dire Wolf teammate, Quinn. To round out the team we had Chris Willis and Ben Waren. We had a camp setup with 3 teams and 2 solo riders. Friday evening, we needed all those riders to hold down our canopies as a huge thunderstorm hit the area. Very strong winds and driving rain destroyed a lot of other teams canopies and tents. After it passed, the weather cooperated for the rest of the weekend.
    The race started at Noon on Saturday. It's a LeMan style start. A team memver has to run around the camp area and tag the first rider. Ben did our run and I was the first rider. After a trail mix-up that had us do the beginning twice, the first lap went pretty smooth. We would switch riders every lap and the times were all within 10 minutes from the fastest to slowest.
   When it got  dark we switched up and rode 1-2, 1-2, 3-4, 3-4 to try to get some rest. Of course the times got longer at night, moreso closer to morning when the dew made the roots very slick. On my 3rd lap, my battery died halfway through the course and i lost about 8 minutes.
   When the sun comes up in a 24 hour race, it rejuvinates you. Amazingly, we all started pulling times close to the ones at the beginning.  Our recovery surprized all of us.
   In the end we were in 11th place out of 50 teams, with 32 laps. We were within 15 minutes of the top 10.  It was tons of fun. Everyone had a good time. Special thanks to my wife Jess for cooking for everyone throughout the night and Richard for keeping us organized.  Someday i will go baack and try it solo, but the team aspect is so much fun!

Chesapeake Time Trial

   A couple weeks ago, I travelled to Chesapeake to participate in my second time trial. This one was shorter, only 12 miles, and was straight and flat. Friday evening, Jess and I drove to Yorktown to stay with Angee and Wayne, family from Tyler's side. We got to their house and went out for a great dinner at Quaker Steak "The Lube", a really cool restuarant. We had a lot of fun with them and will hopefully go visit again soon.
    The next morning we left around 6:00 am. After about an hours drive, we were close to the race, or so I thought. I drove around and around looking for the race. I was getting very frustrated and worried that I would miss my start time. After looking at a .pdf map of the area, I realized that my direction were way off and we were about 15 miles away. Now it was a race just to get there. Finally we found the race. We pulled in, I sent Jess to get my registration and race number, while I got the bike ready. Once I got up to the start area, I had a whole 4 minutes before my scheduled start time, so no warm up for me.

    As I got closer to the start line I saw that there was one water puddle anywhere in sight and they put the start line right in it! WTF!!!  When it came to be my turn and I took off, my back wheel spun. Luckily I didn't lose control or fall. As I got out on course, my legs were screaming from having no warm-up. After a mile or two, I got into a groove. I rode 6 miles, made a U-turn, and headed back. I had passed a few racers and was never passed by anyone else. I crossed the finish feeling pretty good just for making the race. When they posted the Cat5 results, I was shocked to find myself in 6th place out 32! Not bad for almost missing the race completely.

6 Hours of Warrior Creek

   This trip could not have started much worse. Jess, Tyler, and I were leaving on Friday afternoon, bound for Wilkesboro, North Carolina. We were actually ahead of schedule, but before we got out of Lynchburg, the front right brake caliper on the Jeep started sticking. So we had to head home and cram a Jeeps worth of stuff into a tiny 2 door Saturn. Needless to say, it was a long cramped ride. The rest of the evening was nice, I hung out in the hotel lobby with a bunch of fellow racers from Lynchburg and Roanoke.
    We got to the pit area at the race and set up a tent city, with all our friends. I went to get my race number and started to get worried. My number was 13! Soon it was time for the racers meeting and to line up for the start. Luckily Quinn suggested that we ease over to the start line. We ended up being just off the front for the start. When we turned around, racers were lined up down the road almost as far as we could see. The start was crazy, 250+ riders taking off at once. There was a very long uphill on the pavement. I was giving everything I had to keep up with the singlespeed. After about 2 miles, we finally entered the singletrack.
   The first lap wasn't too bad, except for all the traffic. The second lap was much better. Most of the racers had spread out. The course was fun and fast. It was fairly smooth and had high banks berm turns. Very enjoyable to ride, but it gives you no time to rest or recover. By the third lap, I was feeling the pain. The second half of each lap had a lot of short steep climbs. I was starting to walk a few of them. Lap four hurt even more. When I got to the pits, I had half an hour before I had to start my last lap, which meant that I had 2 hours to finish it. The fifth lap was extremely painful. I did have a little energy at the end to race a fellow singlespeeder to the finish line. I crossed the line about 10 feet in front of him.

    When it was over, I finished 5 laps in 6 hours and 16 minutes, putting me in 13th place in the singlespeed division. Warrior Creek is an awesome race. I will be back next year!

Dismal Dash

    I had to get up at 4:00am on Sunday morning, the 14th. To make it worse, it was the night of the time change, so I lost an extra hour of sleep. I gather my stuff and was off to pickup fellow teammate John Tardy. Three and a half hours later, we finally arriveed in Suffolk, VA. There we met up with Eric, our other team member racing that day. Cat 5's were going to be the third group to start. The course was a fairly flat 12.5 miles out and 12.5 miles back. I was the first of our team to start. Heading out, I was immediately hit by a steady headwind. It made the first half very difficult, but coming back was much easier. I had saved a little bit of energy to push hard over the last 5 or 6 miles. I even passed one of the hardcore time trial guys that had passed me on the way out. These guys have dedicated TT bikes with full carbon fiber wheels, teardrop helmets, and do TT's all the time. When I finished, I was surprised how tired and sore I was. It's hard to pu out constant 100% effort for an hour and 9 minutes, but that time put me in 14th place out of 49 racers in my class. Eric came in at 26th and John was 40th. Everyone had fun and even with the wind, the weather cooperated, keeping the rain away. I think I am going to do more TT's. There's another flat TT in Chesapeake in April, the Mill Mountain climb TT, and the Wintergreen ascent.

Bedford MTX finals

    Last Sunday was the final race in the Mountain Cross series. After two races, I was in 5th place overall, 19 seconds from 3rd. The weather was perfect. 60+ degrees and sunny. The course was also longer, with more singletrack than the previous races. And most of it was actually dry! As the race started, I knew I had 3 people to keep an eye on. Dave Tompkins in 3rd overall, Mark Zhu in 4th, and Warren, who was right behind me in 6th. Mark raced in Sport class, so he had a 2 or 3 minute head start. Dave and Warren were in my class. The first last, Dave and I went fast and furious. It would be our fastest lap by 30 seconds. After that, we got into a pattern. Dave would pull away on the flats on his geared bike and I would catch him on the long grassy climb with the singlespeed. On the 3rd lap, we caught Mark. Starting the 4th, Mark tried to pull away on the paved part of the climb, Dave hung with him and passed at the top. I had to sit back and watch, I was maxed out on the ss. Half a lap later, I had them back in my sights. Warren had faded a bit, so these two were my only focus. On the last lap, Mark was looking tired. Once I got past him, he fell off quick. I could see Dave about 50 yards ahead, but there was no way to catch him. We were both maxed out. In the end, he finished about 20 seconds ahead of me, in 3rd place for the day. This is how we finished for the series too. I got 4th, Dave 3rd, Scott Fitzner was 2nd, and Paula Schimizzi was the overall winner. She deserved it. She gets out there and puts her heart and soul into her races.
    I can't wait for this series next year. It's always a good time with good friends. Kenny Palmer does a great job putting on these races. Now on to the rest of the racing season.

Bedford MTX #2

   Ok, just a quick note about last week's race. I've been slacking and not blogging this week. The super wet trails at Falling Creek Park meant that much of the course would be on pavement and grassy feild. There was on section of very nice, dry singletrack. The race started at 6pm, meaning everyone needed lights. It also meant that the temperature would be around freezing. The race went great for me, I felt good and pushed hard. I ended up in third place. I was very happy with that. Now, in the overall standings, I'm 19 seconds out of third. Tomorrow is the final race of te series. The course should be about twicw as long as the first race and have a little bit of every type of trail. The weather will be perfect. Sunny and close to 60 degrees! Last week I rode Quinn's Raleigh singlespeed 29er and I will use it again tomorrow. I really like that bike. A 29er ss will be in my future this year!

Bedford MTX #1

   Finally, the 2010 race season has begun. Even though the Bedford MountainCross series is more of an early season training gauge, there's still plenty of intensity. MountainCross is a blend of pure XC and cyclocross racing. The race is technically one hour long and start times are based on a handicap system, where less experienced riders go first and the more experienced have less time to make as many laps as possible.
   The course for the first race was about one mile long, but the conditions made it feel like 5! Other than the paved loop around the park center, the trail was a narrow track of snow, slush, and mud. Lot's of mud! By the end of the race, nothing but mud, the consistancy of wet concrete. There were no barriers to hop over this time, but there was a steep run-up, about 6 feet tall and the final slippery climb cause a lot of walking.
   I was in the Veterans Expert Class, along with my Dire Wolf teammate, Quinn. A quarter way through the course was a nasty double track downhill, littered with rocks and roots. Mud was slinging off my tires all over me. About halfway down on the first lap, a big chunk of mud flew up under my glasses and derictly into my right eye. With riders in front and behind me, and nowhere to pull off, I had to try to blink as much of it out as I could. there was no way to let go of the handlebars with one hand to wipe it out and not crash. Once I got to the bottom, I felt that I had gotten enough out to keep going.
   I ended up following Quinn throuhout the race. He pulled away a little on lap three, but I managed to pull him back on the next lap. We passed other riders here and there, and of course we were passed by Gordon about halfway through. On the last lap, I got a little caught up behind another rider. There were very few places to pass clean. Quinn was gone. He ended up about half a minute ahead of me. I saw my friend Warren up ahead on the last climb. I tried my best to catch him, but could not do it. He finished about 10 seconds ahead. Nine of us ended up with 6 laps. I was in 8th place. Covered from head to toe in mud.
    Everyone had a great time. These races are always fun and the weather was perfect. It was great to see all my cycling friends. Next week will be a night race. Hopefully the trails will dry out some before then.