Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

This last weekend was the Levis Trow WEMS race. It included the Wisconsin Single Speed State Championship race. Here are some random thoughts with respect to my experience there. No excuses, just observations.

It was only the third trail bound excursion I've had on my new 29er Singular Swift. Yep, love the bike.

Two grueling 12+ mile loops. It was a beautiful, if not increasingly warm day. I rode up with a good group and met a few other regulars responsible for me even attempting the race. I recall last year TmonT saying "you need to check this place out, but might want to get your chops up first". Yet this year there was no mention of chops. So, I went. (probably should have had more chops).

The lead out and the beginning single track was delightful. I was even equipped to handle this part with my beginner riding.

Ascending the bluffs was something else. I had a gear that could do it in some spots, and legs that couldn't in others.

Occasionally, my brain talked me out of a few semi difficult spots. I've assured myself that any one of these spots on it's own would be very doable, but stacked up into this 25 miles of "what did I get myself into?" went slightly beyond my reach.

I rode planks, bridges, rocks, roots, switchbacks, ascents, descents and any number of other fun little obstacles. I had some minor hiccups, to be expected. Thankfully, nothing left me laying there for the ticks to devour me.

Somewhere past 1.5 laps, I went full-on-toast mode. Upon reflection, I was perhaps dehydrated in addition to being cooked. I pushed in spots, cursing my inability to pedal no more. I stopped at the last aid station, grabbing a few orange slices for the coast into the finish.

Not far from the end, I heard "here comes the elusive one". Then an announcer that I know not where his all-day-enthusiasm comes from called me in as the last SS champs racer of the day. I'm sure they were all really happy they didn't have to come out and save me somewhere on the trail!

I'm looking forward to taking my new experience back to the Muir trails.

Last, and most important.. It's good to finish with a smile.


Big thanks to Velogrrl for the photo.

First Ride on the Singular Swift 29er

While it's fresh. This morning I hit the South Kettles on my new rigid, steel framed, Hayes Stroker, Sun Ringle disc-o-flea, Sugino crank, Phil ebb, 19T endless kickass cog, Singular Swift via the Peddler of Prairie himself. Here, in no particular order, are my thoughts.

It was a beautiful day. I abstained from any brewed beverages last night for the full, early rise effect of getting more riding in. I was going to go for a 5am alarm, but once we were home and crashed it was later than I thought. So, 5:30am would have to do. Jump in the rain-box, grabbed my stuff, made some espresso, and one trip back in for my forgotten ipod, and I was out the door minutes past 6am.

At Muir and ready to ride about 7:30, I tweaked things and just made sure it was all ready to go. Tightened up the pedals. Realigned the front brake, fixing the UFO sound. And one red loop just for warm-up and grins.

The momentum of the ride is incredible. The bike wants to go much faster than me. It doesn't lose speed, save when I am braking or heading up a hill. When I'm "just peddling along" I feel like I'm going faster and much easier than I was on my old bike. (insert tidbit about 15 years of improvements in bike geometry advances).

It took me a bit just to get used to how it felt over bumps. I'm accustomed to a squishy old front suspension. I'm much more upright on the swift and could lean in and bend my elbows. Though, I felt I had to duck quite a bit more.

The good and bad of uphills. The momentum factor had me speeding up some hills and struggling on others. It seemed much more difficult for me to buckle down and hurk the rest of the way up the hill once it was too steep. This could just be a matter of finding the right spot to be in when I am climbing. Also, I'll guess the wider bars on my list will help the up hills.

Dare I say, everywhere else was a win/win. I won't talk times because mine are pretty slow. But, my first loop was a medium effort with a few short stops for a sip of water (not long enough to let the mosquitoes gather). It was at least 5 minutes faster than my last loop on my old bike, where I was really pushing it. I went for loop 2 and wore out at the end. I did well the front half, but wore out on the back half.

The big win, I was grinning most of the time. Which is what counts.

If I didn't mention it before, a big thanks / shout out go to the folks that helped me put this together (and listened to my whining waiting for it).

Rick
Russell
Tim
Marty

And of course my wife.

Now I just gotta get this thing out to a ride/race or two before the big Fat Tire. I'll have to chat with my council about Levis.

Wisconsin Weather

It is said here, "if you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes."

In that vein, I went to bed last night with a radar full of green, yellow, and red indicating all kinds of rain and doom for mountain bike racing. Mind you, I'm not much the type of guy to drive a few hours in order to not ride his bike. I could not ride my bike right here.

In any case, I had explicitly asked for an update in the morning. I got a favorable one (or maybe it was an admonishing one). So, I meandered around getting the kids started, dogs fed and walked. I slowly but surely got my stuff in the car. I stopped for gas. And maybe by 9:30 or 10:00am I was headed North just past Green Bay. (the bay didn't look very green today).

At the StumpFarm race, I ran into most of the usual suspects. Coop, Anne, Rick, Liz, Tmont, and MK were all present and accounted for. I must say though, the parking lot did seem a bit light (minus the old city bus).

The course could not have been laid out better. Minus a few mud holes, even I was able to navigate it successfully. In later laps, I walked a few up hills in the interest of making it home.

A good time was had by all. The course seemed fast and packed. Impossible sections were at a minimum if not non-existent. If you showed up, you didn't regret it. For the rest of y'allz, what can I say?

Good pizza after.. Me without my camera.

Better Write Something and Quick

Hey, the loco local folks took me out for a spin on some trails. I was going to go it on my own, but it was nice to have some company. I didn't have time to whip out the camera, cause I was too busy being last. Rest assured, after a few weeks of R&R, I'll be even slower!

I'm going to have to do some running, if I'm expected to show progress at Stump Farm in early May.

I may put my head down here for a bit. Buckle down, if you will. Once we're in swing, I'll try to get some posts out here.

Watch for an up and coming review of some tires I used all winter..

Other news, work has been gettin' their money's worth lately. I'm happy to provide, but likewise hoping this will be fully recognized as the weather gets nicer.

See you all out there.

All In?

I'm not one to go around quoting Hemingway, but I like this particular quote.

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -Ernest Hemingway

In that vein, I'm going to do a marathon that I didn't train for. No, I wasn't drinking when I signed up. Here is some of what I've gone through.

Pros:

• My wife, brother-in-law, neighbors across the street are all doing it. (see also, If your friends jumped in the lake....) (note, I haven't done the polar plunge, yet).
  
• I did Ironman for land sakes. This won't be easy, but I know how to suck it up and get through something.
• Last time I signed up for Lakefront marathon, I got mono. This would be the second "no show" for me, with much less of an excuse.
• Today, I ran 90 minutes just to see how it's gonna feel. I won't be breaking any land speed records. I feel there is a good chance I'll lumber through it just fine.
• I signed up. Period.
  

Cons:

• I do not want to appear to disrespect the distance or those who really trained for it.
• There is a possibility this is stupid and I could hurt something (me).
• I didn't want to just "do" a marathon and walk it in. This is also a very possible outcome.
• WEMS Muir is Saturday. What can I say, that race is calling me. I even have a wild hair temptation to try to do both. And, yeah, I know how that sounds.
  

What happened? I was all starry-eyed for Chequamegon. I didn't run much. Sure, normal life got in the way too. I'm starting to think October is a bad month for me and marathons. August - October is when I most feel like biking. If I want to run it's when the weather goes south.

See you out there Sunday!!

Post WEMS, Pre-Chequamegon

Getting the kids ready for school. The boy got his first bee sting today. He was a trooper.

Since WEMS Stump farm, I haven't given in. On the road every day since, and hard down at night sleeping. I'll ease up significantly next week. But I'm going to make it hurt this week. (It already does).

WEMS Stump Farm

I missed out on a good number of decent posts here recently.. The secret mountain bike trail I found on vacation.. My train ride home where I had to climb over an engine to make the train (this was authorized in case you're with the rail system). All the newbie rail riders whining about a late train.. Anyway, the stump farm deserves a few minutes to hammer out.

After an abnormally rough night's sleep, I woke up late (about 8:00 am). I brewed an espresso drink, and made some oatmeal. Around 9, I headed north to Suamico. I'm used to 7am starts and getting up at some ungodly hour.. This is nice. Oh wait, the morning temps were good, but by 1pm (race start time) it was sunny and somewhat warmish. Thanks to the trees, it wasn't too bad out there.

For those not in the know, WEMS is a race series where you are given an allotted time and you complete as many laps as you can. I chose the six hour race. I just wanted an excuse to ride as long as I could (which would certainly not be more than 6 hours on a mountain bike). I wanted to try out my nutrition plan for Chequamegon. I wanted to see how I felt.

There were some great riders out there. I'm such a newbie. I think I did a good job of staying out of the fast guys/gals way and they were all appreciative and nice about it.

Here are some of the questions I wanted to answered before that fabulous September day:

I have some new Camelback Elixer, which seems a grand idea. Scant on calories and it's got the electrolytes. Camelback may not be able to say it, but seems similar to Nuun. I'm in the very beginning phase of trying these two products out. I tossed 100 oz of water in my c-back M.U.L.E. and 3 (24oz water per tab) tablets of Elixer and left it in the fridge. OK, in hindsight this may have been a heavy decision, but I was trying it out. The Camelback itself was a trial run for Chequamegon.

How far can JWM go on a mountain bike without extreme soreness of back, shoulders, or whatnot parts? While Stump Farm ain't Chequamegon, it's a question I have.

And I wanted to say, "Hey" to my peeps. This is not a question. But I thought I'd toss it here.

Lap by lap analysis:

Lap 1: Just getting a feel for "will I die on this course". The answer was a definitive "you could, but it's not the course's fault".. I felt I was always on manageable ground, minus the steep sand downhill. Aside from this, I had all kinds of new problems like my back hurt VERY early on. I was even getting leg cramps. I won't say I never get them, but I'd imagine they are so infrequent I could say never and it would be close enough to the truth.

Lap 2: I tied the gut strap on my c-back to help alleviate my back pain and carried on. Wow, "I can do this". I wasn't fast, but I was the slow version of "Woohoo I'm the king of the world! I'm gonna make it!" from Simpsons just before Homer doesn't make it. I didn't crash my skateboard though.

Lap 3: A slightly slower version of lap two. Things hurt but I was still there.

T1.. I decided to eat my post race sandwich.

Lap 4: I'm not going to use the sandwich as an excuse, but I'm certain my metabolic efficiencies all went to my gut. I dragged through and this was it for me.. I was happy to have cleared 32+ miles for the day. And I was at least 2-3 out of lantern rouge.

Analysis:

Were the cramps due to the Elixer? Maybe I need to back off the mix, or go with the Gatorade that I know works. I had Gu too. So there were calories (maybe not enough).

Back pain definitely could have been all the extra weight of the c-back + 100 oz water. I will be thinking hard on this one before the big day.

Last word:

Training for Chequamegon or not, WEMS is a great, super relaxed, low volume, event series. Everyone there is super cool. Not to mention there are some monster bikers out there. Thanks to Bill for putting on a fun event.

I will aspire to one day do this race and keep up with the slow guys.

Special thanks to Toolshed for the T-shirt and coke, Rick for granting me the power to stop, TmonT for telling me not to (and the cookies), and a few other monTs for general support, and Liz for just being nice to me in spite of losing sleep so I could watch my first Madison race. Also, the seemingly 1000's of racers that asked "Are you OK?" on my 4th lap. I'm happy to report, I'm OK (until someone proves otherwise).

Extra special thanks to my family for finding all their last minute school supplies on their own. They took one for the team and saw Kung Fu Panda (again) at the budget cinema.

In The Shadow of Ironman

Or is it "Confession Time Part II" ?

I'm sending my entry off to Fat Tire 40 tomorrow.

I signed up for Lakefront Marathon today.

I'm 1/2 contemplating which WORS race I have the best chance of surviving. Though if it came down to it, I really dug the very relaxed atmosphere of WEMS.

Not to forget, Trek100, maybe another tri or two for fun, and some promise to the in-law side of the crim last Christmas.

This may turn out to be a pretty busy year yet.

Confession Time

Lately, I've been clicking on bookmarks for:

• WORS
• WEMS
• Fat Tire 40

I'm reminded of the line from Raising Arizona, "I found myself driving past convenience stores... that weren't on the way home."

I know full well, I just have to go ride in the dirt and not worry much of racin' talk.

Hanging It On Out There

One of my top 10 training rules has to go something like "if it's working, keep doing it. If not, try something different." ... Well, it IS working. But I also needed a break from "homework". Not a break where I work 90 hours in a week and can barely sleep, much less train (see a week ago). This past week was much better. I moved some days around, but hit all my training. My long run isn't up to "plan standard" yet (see earlier knee references), but otherwise I was there.

I busted out of the mold this weekend. Having not been on my mountain bike since February (in many feet of soft cushy snow). And before that, I hadn't been trail riding for years.. One might argue that I'd never ridden trails more than a few hours, and certainly no more than say 15, maaaabye 20 miles. Well, life is different now in Ironman training land.. We don't do things in 20 minute blocks.

Thanks to the prodding from Tmontee, I entered the 6 hour solo mountain bike race at the WEMS New Fane race. Thanks to MTB Girl, and her crew, for putting on fun time for all. Where else can you pay someone to count laps while you ride your bike as long as you wish. Trust me, 6 hours was longer than I wished for. I managed to clock 4 plus hours and 6 laps (28-ish miles) of mountain biking. Absolutely everyone was beyond courteous. I knew I was the slow guy, I did what I could to stay out of the way and get my training in. The faster guys (near everyone) all thanked me as they blew by.. I forgot how much fun trail riding was. Though, a guy used to 3.5 hours on the road finds new places to be sore after 4 hours of mountain biking. My legs had a good amount of go left in them, but my shoulders and hands screamed "DONE!".

I highly recommend these type of events to folks who can mountain bike, but might not want all the hubbub of some of the shorter races. It was low key, good clean fun. Show up with your 35 bux, 30 minutes prior to the race, and you're in.. Set your cooler off to the side of the track, and make your own pit stops. Just beware, the trails might not be as "easy" as some might say..

I recognized Coop from his wedding pics on some blog, at the start of the race. Bubba came up and introduced himself. I saw Coffee King, whom I new in a past life.. I hate to list, cause I'm probably leaving out tons of folks I met.. I even met a triathlete or two out there.

Tee up for next weekend the 100 mile ride at Trek 100 Ride for Childhood Cancer. See you all out there. Time to put my head down and hammer through the week.