Expert Class…. oh dear.

It’s exactly one year ago that I did my first mountain bike race and i guess it’s time to get my big boy pants on.  Sunday is the kickoff of the 2012 MMBA Championship Points Series and after a year at the front of the pack last year, I am now a small fish in a BIG pond.  The expert class basically consist of all the guys that I watch last year and thought, “who can possibly ride that fast?”  Well, apparently I’m going to have to just to land somewhere in the middle of the group this sunday at the Yankee Springs Time Trial.  The biggest difference this year will be the fact that I have to ride twice the distance.  Not just a few more miles, DOUBLE the miles.  Nervous…..  Excited……  Excitedly nervous I guess.  Freewheeler Racing team Captain Dan McGraw has set a goal for me….  Top 8 finish.  As of right now there are 33 racers in my class so that will be a pretty big undertaking.  If it was easy, I guess everyone would do, right?  Race update coming after the weekend!

1st year of racing is in the books….

Last weekend I made a trip over to East Lansing for the Championship Points Series awards.  It is official.  1st loser in the state of MI in the 30-34 Sport MTB category.  2nd place was not my goal, but I put in a lot of miles and a lot of hard work so I would say I got what I deserved.

While I am still not able to train (hamstring issue) like everyone else is right now, I figured I would tally up how my first year of racing went…. since I have some spare time.  The totals are in:

(7) 1st place finishes

(1) 2nd place finish

(2) 3rd place finishes

(1) DNF (did not finish)

(1) 15th place finish (my first road race)

(1) 100 mile endurance race finished- Lumberjack 100
As I look at those numbers I am proud.  The first year doing anything you always want to do well.  I am extrememly thankful for the entire experience, the friends I have made and the people that stood behind me.  The Freewheeler Bike Shop has been incredible to work with.  Curt, Gord and the whole crew take incredible care of the entire Freewheeler Racing Team.  12 team members qualified for an award at the Championship Points Series awards this year.  Hats off to the shop and a great first year of racing for the team.

Another Reason I Love Freewheeler Bike Shop

If you look closely at the picture above you will notice that something about this wheel does not look right.  I will not get into farfetched story telling of how this happened like someone else who was there (DAN MCGRAW), but I will say it was not part of my pre-race game plan.  The last race of the MMBA Championship Points Series is Sunday at Pando so this is not exactly how I wanted to start my week.  Here is the thing that I think stuck out the most of all to me this week after this ordeal.  I ride for an incredible shop.  No panic, no scrambling, no pressure to purchase a whole new wheel when it wasn’t necessary.  Freewheeler’s relationship with Velocity Wheels (also located in Grand Rapids) is fantastic.  They make a light yet durable wheel (contrary to the pic above) that I have been riding all season.  I knew they would take care of it and have me back in the saddle by the end of the week.

Picked up the wheel today and it is seriously just like it was the day I bought it.  Can’t thank the guys at the Freewheeler Bike Shop enough for all their help.  They have bent over backwards for all of their riders time and time again.  Curt and Gordy always make time to keep us rolling.  Thanks Guys!

Maybury Time Trial- *Race Recap*

I’ll make this short and sweet.  Last weekend I headed over to the Maybury Time Trial with Dan McGraw and Jurrien Davison.  Both these guys race in Expert so it’s always good to see things from their perspectives….. however twisted it may be sometimes.  Those guys went off at 9:20 am and my start time was not until 10:35.  Got a real good warm up in and I was ready to roll.

In front of me in the start gate was Eric Langley, currently in second place in the CPS.  He started 30 seconds ahead of me so when they let me go the chase was on.  About 3 miles in I was able to catch him and from then on out he stayed right on my wheel.  Eric’s a really strong rider, just needed someone to pace him.  With less than 2 miles left I through my chain on a really gnarly downhill section.  I pulled off to put it back on and noticed it got jammed up in my rear derailed as well.  Not good.  After about a minute of tinkering, I was back at it.  Eric had gone by me a long time ago and now I just couldn’t let him get back the 30 seconds I had on him.  2 miles has never felt so far.  My heart rate was jumping into the 190s trying to preserve my lead.  The other guy I knew I had to look out for was Philip Utley from Racing Greyhounds.  He started behind me so I had no clue how he’d been running.

Once I hit the finish I was really happy with how I rode.  The Niner Air 9 Carbon was the perfect bike for the course.  I don’ think I could have rode harder that day.  I headed over to see the results which were coming up real time as people finished. Well, 4 seconds was the gap between first and third.  Eric took the top of the box, followed by Phil, and I came in third.  I was not ecstatic at seeing this, but later I changed my attitude.  That’s what racing is all about.  Either of those two guys could have had a mechanical on the course, but this time is was me.  That’s racing!

Stoney Creek Time Trial- *Race Recap*

Just before Preslee Ann was born my wife recommended I hit up a race on the east side of Michigan.  I was a little shocked with her encouraging me to drive 3 hours way, but I didn’t ask for an explanation.  Mike Bigney and I hit the road over to the Stoney Creek Time Trial put on by Tailwind Racing.  First of all, Stoney Creek is one of the largest “parks” I have ever been to.  Call me sheltered if you choose, but it took us about 15 minutes just to find the side of the park the race was being held on.  Finally we spotted the finish chute.

I had several cards I could pull for excuses going into this one before the race even started…. all pretty valid.  Let’s review:

1. Still had not been training at ALL since my IT band is still giving me fits.  Had not been on the trail since my DNF at Boyne.
2. Had to register “day of” putting me at the back of the time trial group requiring much more passing.
3. My wife was due any day with a baby.

The thing that drives me crazy about a time trial is that you never really know who you are racing against until all is said and done.  I think it just takes a discipline that I have yet to develop to really perform well in these events.  I was able to negotiate a earlier starting position when someone didn’t show up the line so that was a big help.  As I headed out of the start gate I knew there were a couple of Freewheeler Racing riders ahead of me so my goal was to catch them and see if we could work together.  I went by two of them in the first couple miles thinking I was just going to check out and cruise.  Just then the lack of training set in.  The leg was bothering me pretty good, but that didn’t explain the fact that I was gasping…. yes, gasping, for oxygen.  The climbs, which weren’t that large, were absolutely crushing me. My mind was ready to rock and roll while my body wanted nothing to do with it.  I tried to pull away from the Freewheeler guys behind me, but they just kept reeling me back in.  

Finally I found the wheel of a local guy just as we entered some technical single track.  He asked if I wanted by.  I don’t even think I have the energy to pass if I wanted to.  I tried to respond without letting him know how weak and defeated I was.  The guy took me all the way through that single track at a pace I never could have on my own.  As we came out on to the last couple miles of trail, mostly 2-track, I told him that I would take the front and pull him to the finish.  I put down the hammer not looking back.  He stuck with me for a short time and yelled, “Thanks for keeping me company.  We’ll see you at the finish.”  I guess I was helping him as much as he helped me.  I rolled under the finish banner with a time of 55 min 27 seconds.  Felt like the longest race of my life.  Ended up with 2nd place for the day which was MUCH better than I deserved.  

Note to self:  Next time your injured it doesn’t mean you have a free pass to eat anything you want and sit on the couch during training times all fat and happy.

2011 Boyne Marathon – *Race Recap* ….. sort of.

Since I had not ridden my mountain bike in exactly 2 weeks, I found it only fitting to give the toughest race in the MMBA Championship Points Series a try.  The Boyne Marathon is the 5th race in the CPS.  I knew I wasn’t 100%, but I really wanted to get back on the bike and turn some miles.  We headed up Friday night and got a pre-ride in so I could see how the old leg felt.  Not excruciating pain…. but there was pain.  The fact that we were climbing 70% of the time didn’t help.  The course was in amazing shape and left me salivating for more once we finished the race loop.  It was going to be hard not to race the next morning so I put the foam roller and a little Tiger Balm to use before hitting the hay and decided to see how I felt in the morning.

I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm as I usually do on race day giddy as a little school girl.  We headed over to the Fun Promotions registration area, got our numbers for the race and then hunted down Dan McGraw who was in the process of setting up the team tent.  The distance on this race requires more nutrition than the others in the CPS circuit so we made sure the tent was right by the start/finish since we were all riding multiple laps.  I’ll be honest, I was just not feeling it physically.  I was excited, but knew I was not totally ready to ride race pace with the climbs I was about to take on.

Before I knew it we were at the starting line…..  and…. Bang!  The legs were spinning!  I went out in 2nd place in my age group.  The pace was much quicker than what I wanted to ride.  I figured I would give it some time but my heart rate was pretty darn high for a 3 hour race.  2 miles in I was able to overtake the rider in front of me on a short steep climb.  He was a really strong rider, but the technical stuff (80% of this trail) was really wearing him down.  Once I was by I hooked up with a few other guys from different age groups and we created some real good distance.  I then made yet another rookie mistake this year.  I followed a few of these guys off the course assuming they were watching the course markings.  Dumb move.  Let’s just say it was no short cut.  By the time we got back where we needed to I came out of the woods right next to my brother-in-law Mike Bigney (Sport Class 19-29) and the second place rider in my class.  I settled in behind the new leader and Mike settled in right behind me.  Just minutes after this I saw teammate Dan McGraw at the top of the mountain walking his bike towards me with a look on his face like someone just stole his first puppy.  “I flatted… I’m out,” he said.  I was pretty bummed that he had DNF’d.  At this point I could get creative like my counterpart Dan McGraw did in his blog entry, but I am just not that good.  If you have not read the circus of events he posted, you should.  You’ll have a good belly laugh.

Little did I know a BIG FAT DNF was in the cards for me as well.  Crossing the start/finish after lap 1 I was really starting to feel the pain in my knee.  I kept pushing on until we hit some of the first climbs on lap 2, where the pain bumped up another couple notches.  Riders were starting to come up on me pretty quick making me realize how slow I was really going.  My brother-in-law rode up next to me and I just shook my head.  He knew I was done, and now I was ready to believe it as well.  I remember yelling to him, “ride your own race bro, finish it out!”  I took a left off the trail, through the brush and hopped on the road.  My race was officially over.  I don’t have a lot of “quit” in me so that ride down to the finish line to report that I pulled out of the race seemed like an eternity.  After checking in with the scorers I limped over to the tent.  Sitting there was Dan McGraw and Jurrien Davison.  So out of 8 of us that started the race, 3 were done after the first lap.  Working the pit was our new role and we did our best to make sure the other 5 guys had what they needed when they came around for their 2nd and 3rd laps.

Congrats to Randy VantHul on a podium spot and Mike Bigney on his first win of the season!  As always……. a big shout out to all the guys at the Freewheeler Bike Shop for keeping us rolling week in and week out.

This weekend's finishers.... minus Todd.

2011 Meijer State Games of Michigan- *Race Recap*

Last weekend was the 2011 Meijer State Games of Michigan in Grand Rapids.  They held the mountain bike race at Cannonsburg Ski Area, which proved to be a very wise decision.  This was the funnest race so far this season and I think the course layout had a lot to do with it.  The trail was rerouted so spectators were right in the action and a good section of the skills area was added to the course as well.  Before I get into the recap, let me just say I have never seen so many Freewheeler Racing jerseys in one place all year.  It was impressive how many riders came out and represented the team.  Can’t thank all the guys at the Freewheeler Bike Shop keeping our bikes running at the top of their game!

Coming off a couple hard weeks on the body (4th race in 4 weeks with 2 of them being endurance races) I really wasn’t sure how it would react to another race.  I am also finding out how different my race pace it from any other riding I do.  Nothing compares to race day.  Well, apparently my body likes to be overtrained.  Who knew, right?

The ENTIRE Sport Class lined up for a mass start….. all age groups as once instead of waves of racers every minute or so.  Again, something very new to me, and it sounded like it was new to everyone else as well.  I lined up with Curt & Pat from Freewheeler on my left and Don & Chad from XC Cycle on my right.  Earlier in the week I decided that when the guns goes off I wanted to be the lead dog going out for once, but did not plan on leading 90+ riders out!  Gun went off and I settled in right where I wanted to…. 1st……… well, sort of.  It was actually 2nd for a short section.  With that many riders I was just happy to be at the front end of this train and not the rear.  About 1/4 mile in on a long false flat I had two guys go around me.  One of them was Don and that was to be expected.  He is just wicked fast. The other was a single speed rider.  My fear was that this may be a sign of things to come. Maybe my body wasn’t ready is a thought that immediately went through my head.  A small group settle in on my wheel as I watch Don create some distance.  By the time I got back around the single speed rider Don was at least 30 seconds ahead.  Stupid me, should have had a little more confidence and passed quicker.  The good news is that I was not actually racing him because we fall into different age groups, but who doesn’t want to just win it all, right?  As I came in finishing the first lap we past each other on a small out and back near the finish.  The atmosphere was electric with fans lining the trail for a good 50 yds.  It was a great boost going into lap 2.

Lap 2 was pretty darn lonely let me tell you.  I saw two people….. the whole lap.  I saw Don through the woods on occasion because his jersey is canary yellow and impossible to miss and I saw Dan McGraw from Freewheeler Racing, who was popping up all over the place (taking a weekend off from racing). I just didn’t know a human being could be in that many places on a 26 minute lap.  He reminded me of that butler in the movie Mr Deeds.  Anyway, Dan was braving the poison ivy deep in the woods giving me up to date info on what gap I needed to make up and what gap I had created.  The good news I kept getting from him is that as I was chasing down Don, a pretty good gap was being created over the rest of the field by the two of us.  The last section of lap 2 was pretty tough mentally.  There is a really big climb and a this point mind games were setting in.  I knew I had at least 2 minutes or so on the next guy in my class.  My legs just wanted a break…. and some ice.  Good thing we just watched The Little Engine That Could last Thursday with our girls.  As the trail turn and only got steeper I started….. out loud for all to hear, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” which then turned to, “I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.” Funny how the weirdest stuff works its way into our minds isn’t it?  What a great little steam engine. 

Meijer State Games of Michigan….. Taking over Grand Rapids.

Just picked up my athlete credentials for the Meijer State Games of Michigan happening this weekend in GR.  Mountain Bike XC Racing is only one of many sports being featured.

What are State Games?

Thirty one states are conducting or organizing statewide sports festivals known as State Games. Modeled after the Olympic Games, State Games provide a motivational goal for all athletes within the state in which they are organized.

Nationwide more than 90 sports are offered each year in State Games with competitions held in 536 communities for participants from over 6,000 cities and towns. Competitions are both recreational and competitive and have been the first step for many Olympic and professional athletes.

I pre-rode the mountain bike course at the Cannonsburg Ski Area and it looks to be one of the best I’ve raced this year.  It is also going to be one of the most spectator friendly courses as well.  Freewheeler should have a heard of racers out there so if you are in the area on Saturday stop by, look for the Freewheeler tent and say hello.  Beginners race at 8 am, Sport Class at 10 and Expert at 12:30.

 

Self Imposed Limits Shattered…. Again.

You ever have one of those days where you just feel like you are unstoppable?  TODAY was one of those days.  I have a race up at Hanson Hills on Sunday so I was just going to head up to Luton Park and turn a few nice easy laps.  Luton is an EXTREMELY well maintained trail by the folks in the logo above, the MMBA.  It is certainly not the most difficult trail in the area, but has a good mix of technical riding, a few nice hills and some just all around fun singletrack.

Getting to the point of my post…..   I started the first lap a little quick and the more I rode the better I felt.  This is one trail that I have tracked my personal best times at.   I thought, what the heck, let’s go for it.  Off I went!  Last time I rode this trail for a personal best time was just over a month ago after got my new Niner Air 9 Carbon.  That day I beat my personal best time from last year by 2 minutes clocking a 42:46.  Wanted to see what the new ride could really do.  It made sense though because I am definitely in much better shape this year than last, but I didn’t think I had it in me to go any faster.

BULLETIN: I guess I should know better.  Legs felt great, lungs were strong, and the bike handled like a dream.  Clocked in (parking lot at my starting/ending point, all loops) at 40:28.  2 minutes 18 seconds faster than a month ago!  I did a double take on my watch and was grinning from ear to ear.  It continues to amaze me what people are able to do when they really push beyond their self imposed limits.  Just when you think you have nothing left to give…. there is always more.  Always.  The mind might not think it’s possible, and that is why God gave man……. Heart.

Next goal is to break into the 30’s!

……..And for those of you having an off day, here’s a little inspiration:

Thumbs up everybody….   for Rock & Roll!

Trifecta!…. And this has nothing to do with horse racing.

Sunday was the Trifecta Tour to benefit the WMMBA to aid in developing 50 trail miles in 5 years.  There were over 80 registered riders that did the complete Trifecta.  It was nice to see a large number of guys from the Freewheeler Bike Shop Race Team out there as well. I was lucky enough to run into Eric Patterson from D2 Labs Racing before everyone formed at the start and that proved to be a blessing in disguise.  This was not a race, but the pace was solid.  We went out at the head of the field and by the time we hit the State Game Area we were in a group of 7 or so up front.

Eric set a great pace.  It was a little quick for most of the group though.  By the time we left the game area we were down to 3.  The road section on the way to Luton was one that I had never ridden…. and boy was it fast, thanks to Eric pulling us most of the way, and a downhill where we hit 37 MPH.  New max speed for the Niner Air 9 Carbon.  We kept looking back on the long straights thinking there may be a group working together to catch us, but it just never happened.