Sunday, May 4, 2014
50 mile Tijeras Attempt and Run for the Zoo 10K
Saturday I got a late start but made it to the Ranger's station around 11 for what I hoped would be 50 miles on the trail. Mike H. just happened to show up as I was getting ready so we decided to hit the trail together. Mike wasn't planning on such a long route so we parted ways after turkey trot. Route as follows:
Ranger station>337>tunnel>Otero>Gnasty>Blue Ribbon>FS106>Drop In>Cajun Pine>Wild Turkey>Turkey Trot>FS335>Wild Turkey>Raven Rd>337>Oak Flats Rd>Mahogany>Ponderosa>Mahogany>Bear Scat>Pinyon>Lone Pine>FS12>Meadow Ridge>Cedro>FS252>FS13>Coyote>337
Going up Tunnel is always a good way to get the blood pumping and the lungs hurting. Mike ripped the downhill on his new Honzo and then we cranked up Otero. At the Gnasty intersection we stopped to chat with a guy on a SS Waltworks with super short stays and a micro drive of sorts setup. Up Gnasty to the rock ledge which I can never seem to clear, however I did clean the uphill section of Blue Ribbon which I don't think I've ever done in the past. The idea was to make a SS friendly route that had some good recovery/eating points along the way. On Cajun Pine I hit a sandy corner, had a two wheel drift, and managed to save it by putting a foot down. Mike blasted the downhill sections of Turkey Trot and then we parted ways on the dirt road. I climbed back up Wild Turkey which was all rideable, albeit slow and rocky. Ponderosa was a new section of trail that I had never ridden before, it's super fast and flowy and fun! Once I was on Bear Scat I knew I had to be more careful navigating so I didn't get lost on one of the unnamed trails that litter that part of the forest. The end of Bear Scat is a scary downhill with a bunch of loose sections, drops, and switchbacks. I walked quite a few parts of it. After you drop in elevation you wind up in a rocky creek bed which is a lot more tame and a blast to ride. After Lone Pine I changed my route to pick up Cedro singletrack in hopes that the Cedro campground would have some water. Once I got over there the campground and parking lot were empty and the gates locked. I tried the water spigot and nothing...The original plan was to take FS542 over to Powerline and then to Delbert's but since I had about 3/4 of a bottle left I headed up 242 and then took 13 over to Coyote for the finish. All in all a great day in the woods! I still need to figure out the nutrition side of things. I either seem to be eating/drinking way too much or way too little, gotta find a happy medium.
Sunday was my first running race ever, the Run for the Zoo 10K. Not too much to say about it but that I started off a little too hot and by about the 3 mile mark I was starting to fade. I kept it together but the last two miles were rough and I had a bunch of the people I had passed earlier catching back up to me. I did manage to finish in an hour and seconds so it wasn't a total unraveling. I think I'm good on running races for a while...
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Cloudcroft to Placitas
After what seemed like a lot of back and forth communication I figured out a way to make last weekend happen. I helped Matt move on Saturday and gave my legs a good workout going up and down the stairs with furniture. Saturday evening, amidst 50+ mph gusts, Wilder, Lorin, and I headed down to Cloudcroft so he could race and we could volunteer. After downing some waffles from the hotel Sunday morning we headed up the mountain to Cloudcroft. The weather was no where near the forecasted high and stayed in the upper 30's most of the day. I went out for a course sweep with a guy named Dave, and even though we tried to go slow and stopped often, there was still a bunch of people on the course behind us. Bill and I went out for a second lap and I got to stretch the legs a little during the big gravel road climb. I just laid into it and my body said let's go. It's nice when that happens. I had a decent lap time but 34/20 might have been too much gear if I had actually been racing.
Monday I rode to work and the legs felt pretty good on the way home.
Tuesday night I met up with Mark C and we busted out a nice loop in Placitas. Keeping up with Mark on his new Scapel is near impossible but it's always fun to give chase anyways.
Big death march in Tijeras planned for Saturday, 10K race on Sunday, and my first ever fork rebuild when my Reba rebuild kit shows up.
Monday I rode to work and the legs felt pretty good on the way home.
Tuesday night I met up with Mark C and we busted out a nice loop in Placitas. Keeping up with Mark on his new Scapel is near impossible but it's always fun to give chase anyways.
Big death march in Tijeras planned for Saturday, 10K race on Sunday, and my first ever fork rebuild when my Reba rebuild kit shows up.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Back up and running (and pedaling)
Well, I'm not in Pisgah anymore. Shame on me for letting the blog die yet again. I'm in New Mexico now, September will be two years. There's good riding out here but I still miss Pisgah immensely. Got a blood clot two weeks after getting here which more or less kept me off the bike for about a year. Things are different now, I've been riding to work for the past couple of months and putting some real effort into some time on the bike. I've been doing some trail running too and it seems to be helping.
Last weekend was the first race in the New Mexico Endurance Series. They are a series of grassroots races that run from April to October. Given that it was the first race I had done in like two years I figured I'd do the short 58 mile course. I talked Mark C into joining me and we headed out to White Mesa for the Sandy Ysidro 8 AM start. Here's the rundown:
The start was pretty casual even though the guys in front immediately gave it the gas. Mark had just uploaded the course onto his GPS that morning while I was driving and lost the file at the start. I however, had the file but couldn't seem to get to a screen that would actually tell me what was going on. Hit buttons while trying to not lose my place or careen into people. Turn unit off and on, same screen. Give up knowing we've got paper directions. Try to catch a pack up ahead even though I hadn't warmed up at all and it takes me an hour to warm up. Pack comes apart so less motivation. Ride with some guys doing the 83 mile course for a few miles. Mark takes off and drops me going up a hill. One of the 83 mile guys tells me what buttons to hit and now I've got a map and helpful screens. We stop to make sure we aren't taking the race loop in the wrong direction. Proceed. I decide I'm tired of riding with 83 milers and take off. Feeling good at this point. Get to the first gate which is all wired shut and takes a few minutes to open. Mark catches up. Get through the gate and let er rip. Couple miles a later a middle aged dude with bar ends starts riding with us. Terrain is good at this point so Mark and I start pushing it and taking pulls but this guy wants to just stay right behind me. I'm not a road racer and don't really care for this. Guy gets on my nerves and I drop the hammer and we leave him. Couple longer hills and Mark passes me again. Almost miss a turn but the GPS saves us. Get to the second gate and find out there is only two guys ahead of us. Mark is killing it on these climbs and I'm at the back hurting. About 20 miles left. We catch sight of the guy in 2nd place but he is soon gone. Some climbing ensues. We meet back in where the loop started and it feels like the home stretch. Pound a gel which seems to stick in my throat and try to dig deep. Mark is taking off again. Grind the hills and see 2nd place again but he's putting time on us and every time I see him he's further away. Mark stops to stretch his leg and I roll by. Mark passes me at the last turn at the substation. Like 6 miles left. I'm fading fast. Mark keeps hammering and I'm looking over my shoulder fearing the worst. By the last climb I'm toast. Mark is stretching at the top. We roll down the last hill and finish 58 miles in 3:54. I was hoping for 4:30 so this is awesome. First place dude came in at 3:21. Killed it!
Next race is five weeks away. Got to get to work.
Last weekend was the first race in the New Mexico Endurance Series. They are a series of grassroots races that run from April to October. Given that it was the first race I had done in like two years I figured I'd do the short 58 mile course. I talked Mark C into joining me and we headed out to White Mesa for the Sandy Ysidro 8 AM start. Here's the rundown:
The start was pretty casual even though the guys in front immediately gave it the gas. Mark had just uploaded the course onto his GPS that morning while I was driving and lost the file at the start. I however, had the file but couldn't seem to get to a screen that would actually tell me what was going on. Hit buttons while trying to not lose my place or careen into people. Turn unit off and on, same screen. Give up knowing we've got paper directions. Try to catch a pack up ahead even though I hadn't warmed up at all and it takes me an hour to warm up. Pack comes apart so less motivation. Ride with some guys doing the 83 mile course for a few miles. Mark takes off and drops me going up a hill. One of the 83 mile guys tells me what buttons to hit and now I've got a map and helpful screens. We stop to make sure we aren't taking the race loop in the wrong direction. Proceed. I decide I'm tired of riding with 83 milers and take off. Feeling good at this point. Get to the first gate which is all wired shut and takes a few minutes to open. Mark catches up. Get through the gate and let er rip. Couple miles a later a middle aged dude with bar ends starts riding with us. Terrain is good at this point so Mark and I start pushing it and taking pulls but this guy wants to just stay right behind me. I'm not a road racer and don't really care for this. Guy gets on my nerves and I drop the hammer and we leave him. Couple longer hills and Mark passes me again. Almost miss a turn but the GPS saves us. Get to the second gate and find out there is only two guys ahead of us. Mark is killing it on these climbs and I'm at the back hurting. About 20 miles left. We catch sight of the guy in 2nd place but he is soon gone. Some climbing ensues. We meet back in where the loop started and it feels like the home stretch. Pound a gel which seems to stick in my throat and try to dig deep. Mark is taking off again. Grind the hills and see 2nd place again but he's putting time on us and every time I see him he's further away. Mark stops to stretch his leg and I roll by. Mark passes me at the last turn at the substation. Like 6 miles left. I'm fading fast. Mark keeps hammering and I'm looking over my shoulder fearing the worst. By the last climb I'm toast. Mark is stretching at the top. We roll down the last hill and finish 58 miles in 3:54. I was hoping for 4:30 so this is awesome. First place dude came in at 3:21. Killed it!
Next race is five weeks away. Got to get to work.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Hardest Ride Ever?
Let me first say that I clearly suck at keeping a blog. I think I secretly knew this all along, but somehow convinced myself that I would put in some effort to record my riding habits. Ha!
Bringing us up to speed from May: Lots of rides on the nimble9 = awesome! Four mechanicals four rides in a row = not awesome. Short rides with beer = awesome. Hitting a 16" high dirt wall and tacoing a wheel at Tsali = not awesome. Getting I9's/Flows as a replacement = awesome.
Now that we're up to speed... Saturday proved to be the most difficult (at least mentally) ride I've ever done. I hadn't had a big Pisgah ride since PMBAR, and after some friends and I rode Laurel/Pilot I was feeling ok enough to trudge on and piece together a loop. Given the fact that I had wrecked on Laurel, struggled on almost every Pilot switchback, and didn't clean the rock garden for the first time ever, I should have probably tossed in the towel. Oh, and my chain was in such bad shape that it was liable to break at any second. Plus, I forgot my map and was trying to link together a new route (kinda).
From 1206 the plan was to get over to Squirrel. I had heard that you could turn off of 476 and connect with Horse Cove. I ran through the area in my mind and could only think of one left turn option after the horse campground. Found 5018, gotta be it. Rode for what seemed like entirely too long, beginning to wonder if I made a wrong turn. Blasted down Horse Cove, finally getting in a groove. Couple minutes later on Squirrel I catch a sapling with my bar end. Down before I even have time to process the fact that I'm wrecking. Left arm hurts pretty good. This worries me because this is the arm with metal and screws in it. Lots of humidity, lots of Squirrel kicking my ass because I have no bike handling skills that day. A nice big briar catches my lips and leaves me spitting blood everywhere. Gotta spit, don't swallow or I'll be sick in no time. Can't seem to get the taste of iron out of my mouth. About two minutes later I find myself being attacked by ground hornets after slowing down to get around a fallen log. Squirrel is so tight that there is nothing to do but ride and let them sting me. Little fuckers get me all around both ankles and my Achilles tendons. Most painful stings I've ever had and my legs feel like bricks. I'm still a long ways from the truck. Getting low on water. Don't feel like pulling out the iodine. I hit Laurel Creek and have a few minutes of ecstasy! I stand in the creek and the cool water makes my ankles feel better. Head up 5015. Mentally I'm drained, few minutes later I bonk or get heat exhaustion or both. Even walking feels hard. I sit in the road for 15 or 30 minutes and laugh aloud at my misfortune. Gotta love even the shittiest days in Pisgah, plus my chain was still in one piece despite it popping and carrying on like a wild west gun fight. Somehow I keep myself moving, taking a break every ten minutes or so. I feel like I'm climbing up to Farlow. This road is never going to end. Saw the gate, saw the truck, and felt like I was being rescued off of the Titanic. Once behind the wheel, desiring nothing more than ibuprofen and frosty beverages, I thought to myself, in agreement with Mr. Ice Cube, "today was a good day."
Bringing us up to speed from May: Lots of rides on the nimble9 = awesome! Four mechanicals four rides in a row = not awesome. Short rides with beer = awesome. Hitting a 16" high dirt wall and tacoing a wheel at Tsali = not awesome. Getting I9's/Flows as a replacement = awesome.
Now that we're up to speed... Saturday proved to be the most difficult (at least mentally) ride I've ever done. I hadn't had a big Pisgah ride since PMBAR, and after some friends and I rode Laurel/Pilot I was feeling ok enough to trudge on and piece together a loop. Given the fact that I had wrecked on Laurel, struggled on almost every Pilot switchback, and didn't clean the rock garden for the first time ever, I should have probably tossed in the towel. Oh, and my chain was in such bad shape that it was liable to break at any second. Plus, I forgot my map and was trying to link together a new route (kinda).
From 1206 the plan was to get over to Squirrel. I had heard that you could turn off of 476 and connect with Horse Cove. I ran through the area in my mind and could only think of one left turn option after the horse campground. Found 5018, gotta be it. Rode for what seemed like entirely too long, beginning to wonder if I made a wrong turn. Blasted down Horse Cove, finally getting in a groove. Couple minutes later on Squirrel I catch a sapling with my bar end. Down before I even have time to process the fact that I'm wrecking. Left arm hurts pretty good. This worries me because this is the arm with metal and screws in it. Lots of humidity, lots of Squirrel kicking my ass because I have no bike handling skills that day. A nice big briar catches my lips and leaves me spitting blood everywhere. Gotta spit, don't swallow or I'll be sick in no time. Can't seem to get the taste of iron out of my mouth. About two minutes later I find myself being attacked by ground hornets after slowing down to get around a fallen log. Squirrel is so tight that there is nothing to do but ride and let them sting me. Little fuckers get me all around both ankles and my Achilles tendons. Most painful stings I've ever had and my legs feel like bricks. I'm still a long ways from the truck. Getting low on water. Don't feel like pulling out the iodine. I hit Laurel Creek and have a few minutes of ecstasy! I stand in the creek and the cool water makes my ankles feel better. Head up 5015. Mentally I'm drained, few minutes later I bonk or get heat exhaustion or both. Even walking feels hard. I sit in the road for 15 or 30 minutes and laugh aloud at my misfortune. Gotta love even the shittiest days in Pisgah, plus my chain was still in one piece despite it popping and carrying on like a wild west gun fight. Somehow I keep myself moving, taking a break every ten minutes or so. I feel like I'm climbing up to Farlow. This road is never going to end. Saw the gate, saw the truck, and felt like I was being rescued off of the Titanic. Once behind the wheel, desiring nothing more than ibuprofen and frosty beverages, I thought to myself, in agreement with Mr. Ice Cube, "today was a good day."
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
First ride on the Nimble9
On Sunday I dropped off the frame and fork to have the headset pressed in and have the Reba adjusted to 120mm.
Monday night I built it up on Mark's living room rug using a free (used) blackbox ceramic bearing GXP bottom bracket. Hopefully this one will last longer than the 4 that I've destroyed over the past 1.5 years.
Last night I got a quick ride in at Bent Creek (really wanted Laurel/Pilot but the weather looked horrendous). This bike hauls ass! I don't even have it dialed in yet, but it is so eager to take on any turn, berm, jump, or rocky section. The rear end has a touch more compliance than the ti frame, although I might be feeling a touch more chatter from the shorter wheelbase when going over long root balls. One ride is not really enough to make that call though. I am not kidding when I say that the nimble 9 is already the best mountain bike I've owned. I now have a new standard as to how a bike should feel on the trail. On one steeper section the front did try to wander a bit while climbing, but moving my hands to the bar ends and shifting my weight around almost immediately made the feeling go away.
Today it rains... Thursday through Sunday look promising, but sweet baby Jesus it is going to be 88 on Saturday?
http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Mills+River+NC+28759:4:US
Looks like I'll have to get out early...
Monday night I built it up on Mark's living room rug using a free (used) blackbox ceramic bearing GXP bottom bracket. Hopefully this one will last longer than the 4 that I've destroyed over the past 1.5 years.
Last night I got a quick ride in at Bent Creek (really wanted Laurel/Pilot but the weather looked horrendous). This bike hauls ass! I don't even have it dialed in yet, but it is so eager to take on any turn, berm, jump, or rocky section. The rear end has a touch more compliance than the ti frame, although I might be feeling a touch more chatter from the shorter wheelbase when going over long root balls. One ride is not really enough to make that call though. I am not kidding when I say that the nimble 9 is already the best mountain bike I've owned. I now have a new standard as to how a bike should feel on the trail. On one steeper section the front did try to wander a bit while climbing, but moving my hands to the bar ends and shifting my weight around almost immediately made the feeling go away.
Today it rains... Thursday through Sunday look promising, but sweet baby Jesus it is going to be 88 on Saturday?
http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Mills+River+NC+28759:4:US
Looks like I'll have to get out early...
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Laurel>Pilot and a new frame
Rode last Thursday afternoon, so as I write this it has been almost a week since my last ride... and I feel it! Riding relieves stress and gives me more optimism and energy; hopefully I can get out tomorrow afternoon.
Anyways, the scenery while riding Laurel>Pilot last week was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen in the mountains. At those higher elevations everything feels like its a month behind the valleys and flat land. All of the foliage still had that "bright green look" and lots of little flowers were blooming. And the weather was perfect!!! I still have only ridden Laurel>Pilot less than half a dozen times, which is a real shame. The first time I rode it was about a year ago with Keith. I think it took us about 3.5 hours to get from N.M.R. campground to the connector trail that leads to Pilot Rock. I was struggling and was like what the hell with the hike-a-bike?
When I rode it last Thursday I started at Yellow Gap and did the whole loop back to the car in 1:50! This included a couple of wrecks on the switchbacks, cleaning the rock garden, and about a 10 minute stop to fix a loose cleat on my shoe. I'm sure there are plenty of guys that can do it faster but I was pretty proud by how much time I've dropped in a year. Just for kicks and giggles I'm going to aim for doing the loop in 1:30 in the near future.
Also, I have a Canfield Nimble 9 frame awaiting assembly! It should be super fun with its super short chain stays (16.25") and slack head angle. Hopefully it will eliminate that awkwardness and monster truck handling that I sometimes feel with my current 29er. I'll put up some pictures when its ready to ride.
Super nice guys, check them out:
Canfield Brothers
Anyways, the scenery while riding Laurel>Pilot last week was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen in the mountains. At those higher elevations everything feels like its a month behind the valleys and flat land. All of the foliage still had that "bright green look" and lots of little flowers were blooming. And the weather was perfect!!! I still have only ridden Laurel>Pilot less than half a dozen times, which is a real shame. The first time I rode it was about a year ago with Keith. I think it took us about 3.5 hours to get from N.M.R. campground to the connector trail that leads to Pilot Rock. I was struggling and was like what the hell with the hike-a-bike?
When I rode it last Thursday I started at Yellow Gap and did the whole loop back to the car in 1:50! This included a couple of wrecks on the switchbacks, cleaning the rock garden, and about a 10 minute stop to fix a loose cleat on my shoe. I'm sure there are plenty of guys that can do it faster but I was pretty proud by how much time I've dropped in a year. Just for kicks and giggles I'm going to aim for doing the loop in 1:30 in the near future.
Also, I have a Canfield Nimble 9 frame awaiting assembly! It should be super fun with its super short chain stays (16.25") and slack head angle. Hopefully it will eliminate that awkwardness and monster truck handling that I sometimes feel with my current 29er. I'll put up some pictures when its ready to ride.
Super nice guys, check them out:
Canfield Brothers
Sunday, May 6, 2012
PMBAR 2012 Race Report
Yesterday was Caleb and I's first PMBAR. We waited a few minutes at the starting line for most of the pack to start up Black Mtn. Perhaps we should have waited a little longer, because we didn't even make it to the singletrack before the traffic jam started. It kinda felt like a long trip to Pressley Gap with the hiking and the stop and go pace. Once at Pressley, we got our Passport and planned most of the day in a span of about 15 minutes. We took a red Sharpie with us, turns out the off limits trails were marked in red. Doh! Luckily it didn't mess us up. From there we went:
Black Mtn>Turkey Pen>S. Mills>Bradley Creek (CP #1 was at the start of Bradley)>1206 (5015 was off limits)>Yellow Gap (snacked and drank Cokes)>Yellow Gap trail>Bottom of lower Trace (CP #2)>Trace>FS5000>water at N. Mills campground>1206>more cokes at Yellow Gap.
When we got back up to Yellow Gap we had pretty much ruled out going up Laurel to get CP #5 at Sassafrass Gap. As enticing as a 3 hour time bonus was, I don't think either of us had the will power or energy to head up Laurel.
So, continuing from Yellow Gap:
1206>276>477>Club Gap (what a sucky hike)>Avery Creek (CP #3 was maybe a mile down Avery from Club Gap)>Back up Avery>Club Gap>477>276>475B>225 (CP #4 was on Cove Creek Rd. I ate two energy bars and a GU at this CP so its a wonder that I didn't get sick)>Cove Creek (By far the most fun trail of the day!)>Fish Hatchery Rd.>276>477>Clawhammer>Maxwell>Black>Finish!!!
Rode about 75 miles over 11.5 hours. I'm stoked with how things turned out given that we didn't really train that hard and our longest day prior was something like 48 miles. I'm sure we would have been faster on geared bikes but that's just not how we roll.
Black Mtn>Turkey Pen>S. Mills>Bradley Creek (CP #1 was at the start of Bradley)>1206 (5015 was off limits)>Yellow Gap (snacked and drank Cokes)>Yellow Gap trail>Bottom of lower Trace (CP #2)>Trace>FS5000>water at N. Mills campground>1206>more cokes at Yellow Gap.
When we got back up to Yellow Gap we had pretty much ruled out going up Laurel to get CP #5 at Sassafrass Gap. As enticing as a 3 hour time bonus was, I don't think either of us had the will power or energy to head up Laurel.
So, continuing from Yellow Gap:
1206>276>477>Club Gap (what a sucky hike)>Avery Creek (CP #3 was maybe a mile down Avery from Club Gap)>Back up Avery>Club Gap>477>276>475B>225 (CP #4 was on Cove Creek Rd. I ate two energy bars and a GU at this CP so its a wonder that I didn't get sick)>Cove Creek (By far the most fun trail of the day!)>Fish Hatchery Rd.>276>477>Clawhammer>Maxwell>Black>Finish!!!
Rode about 75 miles over 11.5 hours. I'm stoked with how things turned out given that we didn't really train that hard and our longest day prior was something like 48 miles. I'm sure we would have been faster on geared bikes but that's just not how we roll.
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