IMBCS #7 Seven Oaks Rec. Boone

After 2 months away from racing the mountain bike, yesterday found us traveling out to Boone for another adventure around that race course. I have had little luck mechanically at this place with my double flat 2 years ago and tacoing my wheel last year, things weren't looking good going into this one, but I am always up for the challenge of conquering my past demons. With all the rain we have had the past few weeks the back section of the course is missing bridges, and sections are washed out pretty badly, so the day before the decision was made to run the upper section of the race course, less climbing, but still enough technical sections to make it a hard race. Got there plenty early so I could head out and get a pre-ride in which was really helpful to see where the slick spots were and where to push it if I could.

Standard Boone start, far end of the field which would give us about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile of grass to ride through before hitting the climb for the first lap, got a good jump and was sitting in 3rd going into the singletrack, first time up the climb there were a few bobbles on some of the switchbacks behind us which would allow small gaps to form. Hit the top and was now time to open it up. There is nowhere near the amount of climbing as usual here, so that would prove to be a set back for me as I like climbing, but the 3 of us pushed on and at one point started to open up a gap. 1st place got a head a little bit and I was able to get around 2nd place towards the top and try not to let the gap get too big, but that didn't happen as he was already gone. Came through the first lap in 2nd place, but was getting caught in the field section at the bottom.

Started the 2nd lap in 3rd place with Ryan sitting about 20 yards off my wheel, he would stay there on some sections, others be right behind me, then I would open it up again. That first climb would prove to be my breaking point as I was having an issue recovering after it on the top section, usually we would get to the top and then have a descent to get a little rest, not today though. I was having a good day on the short punchy climbs though and that was helping to keep the gap. By the end of the 2nd lap Ryan would catch me at the bottom of the hill and we would enter the 3rd lap together. Climbing back through the switchback I asked how he was feeling, said pretty good, so I knew I would be conceding my spot to him on this lap, once again by the top of the hill I was pretty much unable to recover so I let him go by, trying my best to keep him in sight and try not to let the gap go too far out. 3rd lap was the only one I was able to ride cleanly, so I knew I had slowed down a little, because the first 2 laps I made some stupid mistakes from pushing the pace a little too high. Got down to the bottom to start the final lap and now was all alone with Ryan about a minute ahead and John Peters just over a minute behind.

Started the 4th lap and decided that opening climb kicked my butt the other 3 times, and would drop down into my little ring and just spin my way up. Felt better at the top this time from not pushing too big of a gear, and probably should have done that sooner. About 1/2 way through this lap I was starting to get caught by the front 2 Cat 1 racers, Kevin McConnell and Cam Kirkpatrick would be just a little behind him, pulled off and stopped to let Kevin go and a few minute later did the same for Cam. Descending for the final time the trail switchbacks going down giving you the chance to see people in front and behind you, so never saw Ryan again but could see John on a section behind me. Out to the field for one final time, ended up catching Mike Johnson whom was at the tail end of the Cat 1's just before the line.

Came across in 4th Place overall for the Cat 2's and that would also be 4th Place in the Cat 2 Open for the series. Boone however did get the last word because after changing and getting ready to load my bike I noticed my front tire was flat, must have picked up a thorn somewhere, but held air till I got down to the finish so that was a good thing.

Summerset Shootout

Last weekend found us traveling out to Des Moines for the 4th race in the IMBCS Series, headed out Saturday afternoon to get in a couple pre-ride laps with Rick, Ryan, Kyle and Bruce. We also took the kids and wifes bike and they also pre-rode the course as Sunday was Angela's birthday, and she was thinking about racing but wanted to see the course before making her decision.

Sunday morning we arrive to get registered and warmed up, the whole family was racing this weekend, Kaden doing the kids race, which he won (small course), then Angela and Salem were lined up for the beginner race, they made the decision that the women and juniors would do 2 laps of the 2.5 mile technical course. They got off to a rolling start down the road towards the singletrack, Salem went into the woods before Angela and he was keeping right up with most of the guys, remember he is only 12 years old, so he was doing awesome. Angela came through where I was standing at about 4 minutes after Salem and she was smiling, at least for the pictures. I handed off the camera to Kaden so I could get warmed up, decided I would go and find her on the course and cheer her on, Salem was walking back towards the Start/Finish area with a flat tire, bummer. I rolled up behind Angela to see how she was doing, and she was doing good except on a couple of the looser climbs, one of which I wish I had the camera for because she was upside down about 6 foot down off the trail and still clipped in, funny, helped her out of her bike and let he finish her race, I turned off to head back towards the staging area. I get back to find out that when Salem came back they told him since he was the only Junior if he could grab another bike he could go finish the race, Kaden's bike was locked on the car and I had no keys, so he jumped on Eric Penne's son's bike, he is I think 7 years old, so he takes off on a bike that is clearly way too small for him, and was able to finish the race. Overall Angela came through shortly before we started in 2nd Place in the women's race, her first mountain bike race, and Salem was 1st since he was the only Junior.

On to my race now, we would be doing 5 laps of the Northside of Summerset, which is some of the most technically challenging course we race on, not in terms of rocks/roots but in the form of trails with no real flow to them, some really steep drops, so climbs that you go into carrying some speed from the previous downhill, but go into them at a 90 degree turn, or more, and side hill stuff that you almost can't pedal all the way through without hitting your pedals on the ground. Lined up with some familiar faces, Neil and Tyler would be 2 that I knew I had to try and not let get away, and I was on the front line with them. We go, and it is probably just over 1/4 mile into the singletrack on the paved road, I am 3rd wheel behind Neil and Tyler, and holding that place going through the first section. I am doing a good job keeping them just in front of me, but can see them starting to pull away slightly, I do have someone on my wheel which was good, kept me motivated to go. I get gapped about 1/2 way through the first lap, and when we got to a spot I let the guy behind me go chase them down as by now I know I have lost contact with them and would not get it back. The end of the first lap I turned in just over 17 minutes, way faster then my pre-ride, and knew I wouldn't be able to keep that pace, so I scaled it back a little for the next few laps.

Lap 2 was basically maintaining my position and trying to figure out how to ride the course cleanly, did a really good job of that on this lap, at this point we were picking up the back end of the SS class which started 1 minute before us, much respect to those guys especially on this course, not SS friendly. The one thing about this course is there is only 2 places to grab a drink and they both come towards the end of lap, so water management was an issue, especially with it being 90+ degrees out and very humid. At the end of this lap on the road section I picked up one of the SS guys spinning away, he jumped on my wheel and drafted me to the entrance of the trail again which was helpful to him. I finally thought I had this course figured out, was on top of one of the ridges on the back section, and BAM, I was on the ground, apparently I clipped a tree with my bars and was laying across the trail. Now to pick myself back up and try and regain my mental focus and get back into it. I was doing a good job of keeping with lap times of around 18-19 minutes.

Going int lap 4 I saw Tom Anderson from Rassy's on the road, catch up to him and let him to jump on my wheel on the road section, and he was saying the Ryan from Rassy's who was just in front of me on lap 2 was still only about a minute up there and I could probably catch him. I did all I could, but by now I was starting to feel the pain in my legs, and also a little pain in my lower back, not sure what that was all about though, and ended up dropping it to the little ring and spinning up the steep climbs instead of trying to power them in the middle ring. This course was no longer fun at all and it turned into a death march to just get through it to the end. I never did see Ryan in the few spots I thought I would be able to, so my chase was over, and decided I was good as long as noone else caught me. By now we were starting to lap the back end of the Cat 2 field, it is amazing the range of riders this class covers, the top 3 or so should be in the Cat 1's and the back 5 or so are ones that just came up from the Cat 3's. Back through the road section for the final time heading into lap 5.

I did get a chance to see Rick ahead of me on one section, and decided he would be my carrot and I would try and chase him down, but had nothing left in the legs for any speed, and never able to get up to him, I knew he still had 2 more laps after this one so he was just trying to get through it. I think I was able to ride the whole 5th lap cleanly, dropping to where I could spin helped out a lot, and also knowing the race was almost over was a relief. Came across the line in 1:35:08 which I know was a good time for this course, just not 100% sure where that put me overall.

Waited around a little to watch others finish, and then went to change before coming back for results. That was a big cluster, and instead of posting results they just announced the top 3 in each class, and I knew I wasn't one of them so I had no clue how I did leaving there. Angela did get a gift card from one of the local bike shops and a prize off the table, she grabbed a wind breaker, and Salem got a new bike computer for his road bike. After they did awards they had a hill climb setup behind registration, cash entry $1 per try, and I usually am a good climber so I tried it out, ended up being tougher then I thought, never got the a clean run into it so didn't get too far. It was however won by Adam P who was on a SS, he had it dialed in and just powered up it.

Result finally came out and it turns out I ended up in 5th overall for the Cat 2's and 4th in the Cat 2 Open for the series category. Next race for the IMBCS is Ida Grove, but not sure if we are making it to that one as it is a 4 hour drive one way, very fun course though, so we shall see.

As always pictures are here

IMBCS #3 Waverly

This past Sunday was the 3rd race in the series, Camp Ingawanis Boy Scout camp near Waverly. I was originally not intending on doing this race as I was on-call for work this week and couldn't find anyone to cover it being it was Mother's Day. Thursday afternoon I was able to nail down a coworker to cover the time I needed to head up and race, so right in the middle of my rest week I was going to be racing my bike.

Got up there around 9:15 as they were having a youth race at 10:05 that we told the boys they could do, so we get them all registered and set up to race. They did a shortened version of the full course, but still had a good mix of hills, and singletrack for the kids, so I offered to ride behind them and make sure they all found their way around the course the first lap. Salem took off on the opening climb and was ahead quite a bit, and Kaden wasn't too far behind. After the first lap I went ahead to where Salem was at and followed him through the course. He ended up coming across the line in 1st, and a couple minutes later there was a heated battle between Kaden and one of the youth girls, and a sprint finish at the end put Kaden in 2nd, good racing for them.

I then took off up the hill and decided to check out the first 2 miles or so of trail so I knew what to expect at the start. The opening hill is always a killer, good way to separate the pack a little before hitting the woods, then it is some really flowing trail down to the river. Got to a point where I knew how to get back to the car and decided I had seen enough. Got back with plenty of time before my 11:05 start time.

Lined up after the Cat 1's took off, front row, left side, best line for getting up the hill, so go through the usual pre-checks, bike in big ring, check, fork locked out, check, ready to go, check. They give us the countdown from 10 and I know at this point it is on, GO, and I am off towards the hill, get clipped in right away and sprint up the hill, holeshot into the woods again, I don't quite have the same gap as I did at Sylvan Island, but a few seconds. I am not sure who is behind me at this point, but know there was a couple fast guys right there. The first section I am riding pretty strong, and knowing I am not holding anyone up, one almost missed turn, wanted to go left, but the trail went right, oops, thankfully I could regroup and not lose anything there. By this point I am feeling some pressure from behind and know there are a couple guys that want to get around, I knew it opened up shortly, so as soon as it did 2 guys get by me, and now I have Ryan Neipert from QC FORC on my wheel, neither of us had ridden this section beforehand, so I asked if he wanted to go around, and he declined as long as we were keeping the leaders in sight, so I did my best to do so. Now we hit the climbing sections of the race course, first one comes and it is a grinder with the trails being a little more then tacky from the rain a couple days before, so standing wasn't an option. Next up is the rock garden, and the guy infront of us bobbles the entrance, causing me to have to unclip, not wanting to lose any more spots I keep going without being in my pedals for the first section, finally get in just before the huge rock drop off, clean that section and we are off again. Descending again which mean we will be going back up, so I let Ryan and another guy go so I didn't hold them up any longer. The best climb come at about a mile from the finish, you come down to a low spot, and then it is a climb up in basically a gully that is about 3 feet deep, exposed roots, and switchbacking up. Come down that and it is across the bridge, short road section, then down to the start finish line.

Lap 2 starts with me letting a group of 4 guys go, including a couple of the SS guys, up the hill I try and just maintain their pace as long as I can, which isn't long, at this point I can feel that I haven't ridden all week, and fatigue has set in, so I just tried to make the best of it. Was riding along with on of the SS guys for a good amount of the lower section, but as soon as we hit the hills, he to me he was cramping, so he let me go ahead of him and we would go back and forth we me having the advantage on the hills with my gears, and him catching back up to me on the flatter sections. This time we had gotten to the rock garden and nobody was infront of us, so I was able to be in the right gear and just flow through it, feeling pretty good now knowing we had just 2 more climbs to go. We caught up to Brittany McConnell on the first climb, so that was a good time for me to be able to rest a little and not try and pass her on the climb, so once it opened up again at the top we went around and now there was 3 of us together. Back to the final big climb up through the gully and the SS guy opted to run the section due to the steepness of it, and I was just powering through it, back down to the road and got passed by the other guy that was with us, tried to match his speed, but had no power left in the legs at this point. Final section of singletrack, lost the guy in front of us, and has the SS guy right on my wheel, was able to hold him off as it was a downhill run into the finish line, and had the gear advantage.

Came across the line in just over an hour and four minutes, knowing I was out of the top spot it would just be a waiting game to see where I ended up when the got results sorted out. Got some food and waited, they started getting this posted, and I was 10th overall in the Cat 2 combined, and 7th place Cat 2 Open. I knew going into it I wouldn't have the results I did at the other 2 races, but still pleased with where I finished. Next race up is Summerset Shootout in Des Moines on the 23rd, so back to some serious training for me this weekend.

As always pictures can be found here

Decorah MTB TT

This is one of those races I have heard about for the past couple years, but never made it up to because it was always the same weekend as the Old Capitol Crit in Iowa City. This year though it is part of the IMBCS Series so it was put on the calendar, and I am glad it was. This was the 20th running of TT's in Decorah for them, the race is ran rain or shine, and once again this year it would be rain. The trails were slick in spots, mostly the exposed roots on the climbs were the spots that would prove to be challenging.

I did pre-register so I was able to select my start time, I wanted to get going early because there was still the threat of rain all day. I got the 30th start time leaving the start at 10:30, got a decent warm-up on the rollers before starting as there was really nowhere else to warm-up, and roller up to the start line with about 10 minutes to start. The first 200 yards or so was a paved road leading up to the singletrack, and once you hit the woods you start climbing, really slick on the first couple parts, but was able to just sit and spin up them for the most part. Bobbled one section and took part in my first of about 5 or so hike a bike sections, but unlike in the past where I would just work my way up them at a decent pace I know I had to run them, so off I was running. We started in 1 min intervals and within the first 3/4 of a mile I had caught 2 guys that started ahead of me. The first 2 miles would be basically switchbacking up and down the frontside of the hill, almost to the point of going all the way back to the bottom only to have to climb back to the top. By mile 3 I had caught I believe 5 of the people that started before me, and was just trying to maintain a good pace.

We have now dropped down the backside of the hill and into a valley between 2 hills, so that means time to climb again. This next climb was a nice one, about 1/2 mile in length, rocky, and climbed about 200 feet verticly, I had not caught up to anyone in a while, but could start seeing people in the next couple sections ahead, so I had something to shoot for. That is the one thing I don't like about the TT is you have noone behind you pushing you all the time, and usually you don't have anyone in front of you to chase. Now we get into the really technical sections of the course, lots of off-camber side hill riding, plenty of log crossings, and really tight corners. Make it through there passing about 5 more guys, and I come up to the pine tree section and notice a BikeIowa.com jersey, it was Kurt Benson, I went past him, and was just flowing through the pines, almost a 1/2 mile section, and at one point I thought I missed a turn because there were no course markings, nothing, but finally found one and was back on the right track. Made my way back down this hill and know I was getting close to the finish, would have to climb part of the first hill once again to make it back over, dropped down through another rock garden section and down to the pavement, cross that and down to the river trail, which was mainly flat once you got through the first section, threw it into the big ring and just hammered it out to the finish line.

Looking back I would have liked to be able to pre-ride the course, maybe I could have pushed it more in some sections. Headed over to T-Bock's where they would have the results and awards ceremony, so while waiting we ordered a couple plates of fries, and a Snakebite, which is now one of my favorite drinks, Woodchuck and Guinness, sweet.

Finished the 11.2 mile race in 1hour 13minutes and 04seconds which would be good enough for a 2nd Place in Mens 32-33 category (got a sweet plaque for that) 18th Place Overall out of 87 finishers and 2 Place for the IMBCS Series in the Cat 2 Open class.

Sylvan Island Stampede

Sunday brought us to the Quad Cities for the first Mountain Bike Race of the 2010 season, and the start if the IMBCS Series. The weather would be much nicer then last year with temps in the low 70's and sunny, it would prove to be some fast lap times, and huge crowds. We had gone down the day before to pre-ride a couple laps, and I am really glad we did that, trying to pre-ride in the morning can prove to be a hassle on some courses.

We arrived pretty early which was good because sometimes parking can be a pain, but they had guys out directing us where to go, so all was good there. We went and got registered, the kids were doing the kids race at 11:15 so we walked around looking for good spots to take pictures and also watch some of the Novice Race. Got the kids to their race, and I warmed up for a little while they were doing that.

I made sure to show up to the line early so I could get a good spot on the front row, I had heard there was 119 of us in the Cat 2/Womens Open Races, so we would all be on course at the same time. This year the Women were sent off 4 minutes before us, as they are a much smaller group with 25 of them compared to the 90+ of us. Off they went, and we waited, talk about a long 4 minutes. I made sure I was in my big ring and had my fork locked out. The start is a 6 foot or so wide trail that would funnel down into a single track on the other side of the island which is about .2 miles away, so not too long.

From my past experience you want to be in the front, so the whistle blows, I clip in and go. I once again have the holeshot heading towards the singletrack, and after the race I would find out I was doing 29.6mph along that section on the start. First lap has begun, and I am leading for quite a while. We do start catching the tail end of the womens field, and they were pretty good about letting us go by when we caught up to them. Before this lap was over I was in 5th place or so and we have caught almost half the womens field. Onto lap 2 I am feeling pretty good, and know I just have to maintain the pace I have been going at. I do lose another position to one of the Junior racers, so no biggie there. By now I have a pretty good handle on where I am at on the course and know where to push and where to sit up for a second and recover.

Lap 3 starts with being able to see some more guys about a section or so behind me, so I keep turning the pedals over the best I can, and try to maintain my pace. By now I have worked my way almost through the entire womens field with the exception of maybe the top 5. Still feeling pretty good I am basically in cruise control mode now and feeling the flow of the Island. I did get caught by another one of the 40+ guys before the lap ended, and he followed me around for a bit before it opened up and I let him go ahead of me, I tried holding his wheel for a little bit, but wasn't able to. Final lap and I am feeling the pace starting to get to me, but know there are guys coming. The sections between the tight twisty singletrack are big ring hammerfest and making sure I don't slip any. I am now over half way through the final lap and have a pretty decent gap on the next guy behind me, and know I am not gaining on the guy in front so I just have to hold this pace. Come into the final straight to the finish which was the same as the start .2 miles of flat fast trail, so back into the big ring and bring it home.

I come across the line in 1hour 23minutes 20seconds, and from start to finish my lap time only went up 56seconds with times of 20:19 20:48 21:00 and 21:15. I am very pleased with my result here, 7th overall and 3rd in my Category. Next race up is in 2 weeks in Decorah, and from what I have heard I better bring my climbing legs.

Pictures up here

2010 Training so far

I have been riding quite a bit this year in the first couple months, and have managed to stay off the rollers for a good amount of it. Temps have been warm enough to allow me to be able to ride outside quite often on the weekends which has been really nice, and makes me want to ride more then just sitting there aimlessly pedaling in the same spot.

I did start off with doing about 6 weeks of low effort rides, some longer then others, so not a total base workout, but no real intensity, so hopefully I will not burnout mid-season like last year, that was a huge blow to my motivation.

I did go and get a fitting done for my road bike 3 weeks ago at Geoff's Bike and Ski and that has made a huge difference in my comfort on the bike. I can go for longer periods of time without the feeling of constantly adjusting my position on the saddle so I can go further. I am going back in tomorrow morning to have Kevin check on a few minor things with the fit, but that is the great thing about having them so close is I can go back and have him make these tweeks. So after that I will be riding back home from there, should make about a 50 mile ride out of it.

Today I went out in search of hills as part of my training to get ready for the Decorah MTB TT coming up in April. I have never ridden up there, but hear the climbing is pretty brutal so I want to be ready for it. Ended up finding 1660 feet of climbing in 28 miles that I can hit from my house, so I will be incorporating that into my usual training once a week.

Video from today's ride here

And the power profile

So far so good, hope the rest of my March goes good, first race is April 11th Sylvan Island Stampede in the Quad Cities.

2009 Year in Review/2010 plans

2009 was by far the longest season I have had so far, not in the number of races I entered, but it all started back in January with roller races and continued on with at least one race a month till November. I feel that by dong that I had peaked really early in the season and in turn had a bad cross season.

One thing I was focused on was winning the Cat 2 overall for the IMBCS mountain bike series, and after the first couple of races it was looking pretty good with myself and Nick Sobocinski going back and forth for the top spot. I did get a gap in the points by going to the race in Ida Grove that only few people traveled out to, great race course, but 4+ hour drives aren't friendly. Then about 1/2 way through the season Rick Blackford came from out of nowhere, started winning races and made for a really tight battle in points, but a few wins from him, and me not traveling to Council Bluffs and the cancellation of Sugar Bottom left me 13 points shy of winning. Such a disappointment on my end, but the stronger rider came out on top.

I did a few road events, and really realized that I am not cut out to be a road racer, I don't understand tactics that are needed to do well, I hear them say start and I tear myself inside out in the first few minutes like I would in a MTB race, and then when I settle into a rhythm that works for me, I get dropped, and it is game over. I did manage a decent result at Snake Alley, thanks to me ability to climb pretty well, but the next day at Melon City I was OTB after 2 laps and pulled not to long after that. The State Crit I tried to help a teammate that went off the front in the beginning of the race, fell off again and never recovered.

Then there was cross season, the one thing that I look forward to the most in the year, and I had a decent first race, but then got sick with some sinus stuff that wouldn't go away, I was sick for well over a month, and once I would start feeling good, I would go ride and right back to feeling like crap. So I took it easy and tried to make sure I was good for Jingle Cross, so instead of the 15 or so races that I could have done, I was down to just 6 for the fall season. I did pretty well at Jingle Cross considering I am a back of the pack Cat 3, and it was a really strong Cat 2/3 race.

Ok now moving on to 2010. I am at a point where I need to start thinking about the other members of my family and what they want to do with their cycling. Both of our kids will be old enough to race in the Junior races, and my wife has showed interest in doing both more cross races, and also trying a crit or 2.

I think it will be best for me then to put any personal major goals on hold for this year and help focus on them and their training, so I will not be competing for the overall win in the IMBCS series but will hit some of the more fun races and try for good results at those events. Road events will be limited to Snake Alley and the race that HBA will be putting on here in the Cedar Rapids/Marion area, oh and if Kent Park happens I will do that. Cross Season will be my major focus so hoping for a late peak in my training so I can be a little more competitive.

Training for 2010 starts next week, I have been on the rollers/riding outside at least once or twice a week in December just to keep the legs moving, but the real stuff starts soon. I hope to see you all out there again, and I will keep this updated as often as I race, maybe some status updates on how training is going and how the family is doing in their racing.