FAIL

Saturday I was feeling like I was fighting a cold and I couldn't rouse myself to go ride until after 11.  For some reason I thought I would still be able to pull off an epic ride even though it would be dark by 5:30?  From the house I rode up to the foothills and then took the trails south.  Copper to Tramway to Route 66 out to Tijeras.  The original plan was to ride 337>542 (gravel)>252 (gravel)>242 (gravel)>217>337 and then Otero>Tunnel on the way out.  By the time I was climbing up 337 I was at the two hour mark and not feeling such a big ride anyways. 

Instead I rode Tunnel>Otero and then took the unnamed trail from Tunnel back to the Coyote trail head. 

 Snowy singletrack

 It was 60 degrees and I was in shorts

Headed back to town on Route 66 I must have ran over a piece of glass because my rear tire sustained a cut in the center of the tread block and immediately went flat.

I tried a 2 oz bottle of Stan's and no amount of profanity and furious jerking with my hand pump would get it to seal up.  I finally gave up and put a tube in only to find out the tube had a hole in it from being mounted to my seat post for so long.  I'm about 20 miles from home via my original route.

 I blame this on the damn deer that throw their little Coronita bottles out the window and graffiti our roadways with images of their nude models.

Still, it was a beautiful day while I waited for my ride to show up.

Winter "Training"

We had a dusting of snow last Saturday night. Summer has left the building. It is the official indicator that the "Late Fall Party of Laziness" has ended and Winter training has begun (with or without me). So Tim and I ventured out in the dusting of God's cocaine and mustered about 12 miles in the Foothills.

I cannot reveal the details of my "SSWTP" (super secret Winter training plan) but it might involve pilates while watching McGyver reruns. Or it might not, you'll just have to wait until the Spring season starts. If I crush it you'll know.

I ordered a revelate designs tangle bag a few weeks ago and I haven't used it yet. I've been too busy trying to decide what I will carry with all of this new found space that is not on my back, but between my legs. So far I have made these conclusions:

 

Two 24oz Podium bottles do not fit.

A 48oz Nalgene fits (but then I have to refill bottles).

 A stuffed white squirrel does not fit.

One Giro Code fits....you never know when you might destroy a carbon last hammering on a bikepacking trip.

I was going to ride to work tomorrow but then realized that I am out of spare tubes and my front has two punctures from goatheads today.

 

Zuni Mountain

Prep for Zuni Mountain went down like this: 52 mile bike path ride (with a couple of laps on a cross course) the Saturday before the race. Then a week of no biking plus several days of meals consisting of pizza, doughnuts, soda, hot dogs, and Mexican food. If I had simply incorporated some EPO I would have had a winning formula. I mean, look how high this dude can lift his bike and he's not even on a podium, but he is PRO.

I roll up to the campsite at McGaffey Lake (there is no lake btw, just a pond with no water by east coast standards) just before dark on Friday and get the tent set up as the sun disappears. I'm in bed about 10pm and wake up throughout the night 'cause its way colder than I was expecting.

Saturday morning I down two slices of pizza, a banana, and some strong coffee from the percolator. Race starts at 8am and the pack takes off quick. I lag at the back; it's cold, my stomach is full, and I'm still not awake. I stick with what was probably the second pack for a bit and then they lose me. I catch a dude named Mone from Vail on some 29+ drop bar road bike contraption as he's taking off some layers. He quickly catches back up before the first singletrack descent though. I ride by myself for most of the loop, get lost trying to find Quaking Aspen trail, and then finish the loop up with Mone. I manage to keep my pit time to about 8 minutes and scarf down a stinger waffle.

One the second loop I knew where I was going but the tummy was misbehaving a little bit and I began struggling with cramps. I actually stopped twice on the Quaking Aspen climb to take a breather. Once I got back to the gravel road I started really watching the clock and was hoping to make it in under 8 hours. Somehow I dug deep and the power came back and I was able to rip it the last half hour or so and finish in 7:50. I'll be back next year, hopefully sporting a harder gear, a faster rolling tire, and some improved fitness.

Settling For Less

Less miles, less races. That's the way the past few weeks have been. I changed my mind and only did loop two of the Manzanita Mountain Epic, skipped the Delores 100, and have been putting in fewer miles every week. On the flip side I've done two cyclocross practice races which were a blast and that got me interested in doing some cross races in the future. There's still the Zuni Mountain on the table in less than two weeks and I have negotiated with my brain and legs that there will be no bowing out and no shorter course option for me.

Little Manzanita rundown: Small pack of us start at 7 am. First trail up is the Cedro singletrack. I try to get settled in. I'm not really awake yet. I over anticipate the climb at the end and give up to walking too early. Probably could have cleaned it if I had been paying attention. I do the hike a bike on the meadow singletrack and that's the last time I get a glimpse of Mark up at the top. At this point I'm following a couple of guys on geared full suspension bikes. I catch up on the little climbs and then they get away from me on everything in between. I have no desire to attack, just hang on for now. They miss a turn on Mahogany and I get ahead momentarily. They catch back up and we all ride Bear Scat together. Once we hit Harry's trail they are gone again. I stop to piss and use it as an excuse to walk. I'm not attacking the hills hard enough to clean anything, but on the other hand I'm not bonking or blowing up. We all get lost for close to half an hour and trace the trail back and forth until we pick up the GPS track again. GPS is being a PITA today, its constantly freezing and not showing the course ahead. Logan takes off and the other geared guys get ahead. I ride alone for awhile and have a minor wreck at the bottom of Lower Pine. I pass two guys I haven't seen since the start while climbing up the 462 dirt road and then catch the two geared guys I've been following all day at the turnoff for 12. We ride together over to Mighty Mule and then I try and drop the hammer on all of the rolling short climbs. I get to FS13 and they are still close behind me. I don't even attempt to ride the five hills of death, but just try to walk each one quickly. I pause at the intersection of middle? trail wondering if I'm supposed to take it back to the finish. The directions are not helpful and the GPS is still showing some extra trail. What the hell? The geared guys are mere yards behind me as I get to the intersection with cedro peak road. I make a dumbass decision to follow what the the GPS track appears to show and continue up towards the towers, enduring another short climb. The trail basically ends so I turn around with one of the geared guys in tow and we blast down the other dirt road to the finish. The second geared rider skipped our little detour and had already signed out on the clipboard. Damn. Five hours of effort blemished by a mistake in the last minute. C'est is racing I suppose, and I've earned myself a tie for second place. Mark however, has been back for almost a full hour already. There was no chance of catching him.

Yesterday I took Jay out to Tijeras so he could experience some good ole baby heads. We rode: Ranger station>Tunnel>Otero>Gnasty>Blue Ribbon>FS106>Drop In>Cajun Pine>Wild Turkey?>Turkey Trot>David Canyon Rd>Drop In>Blue Ribbon>Gnasty>West Ridge>Birdhouse>End.

Late Summer Blues

Since this is my first real "season" of racing, I've had a blast and have even surprised myself a couple of times. I've definitely made some progress and I'm faster than last year, no doubt. I haven't exactly met my goal of 400 miles a month, but I'm still working towards it. I'm glad to say that probably 70% of my miles this year have been dirt miles (mountain biking is still the best!) This year is starting to wind down and I'm glad: I think my legs need some good rest and I'm ready to focus on rock climbing for a couple of months. However, its not really over until late October:

Manzanita Epic (~80 miles). 9/27/14
Delores 100. 10/4/14
Zuni Mountain (82 miles). 10/18/14

Sunday I took the geared bike out to Tijeras (since I destroyed a tire on the SS) and wound up bending my derailleur hanger about thirty miles into my ride. I didn't have a single gear that was really working right so I bailed on my original route and ended up with 42 miles. Still, its always good to spend six hours in the woods on a beautiful Sunday.

2014 Kona Unit Review

First three rides on my new Kona Unit frame. Bike setup is almost identical to what I had on the Canfield Nimble 9. I never thought I'd say this but I think I found a frame that I like better than a Canfield.

Me: I'm 5'7", 145 lbs. I'm into endurance XC racing and all day epics. I try to build my bikes so they are a jack-of-all-trades do anything bike, with a focus on "trail" riding if you must call it that. Location: Albuquerque, NM and the surrounding areas

2014 17" Kona Unit frame (5.77 lbs with sliders and hardware)
Manitou Tower Pro 120mm fork with 20mm thru-axle
Flows with Hope hubs (rear SS bolt on)
Maxxis Ardent 2.4 F/Maxxis Ikon 2.2 R - Tubeless
Cane Creek 40 Series Zero-Stack
Thomson Elite X4 Stem - 50mm
Easton Monkey Lite Carbon Riser Bars
ESI Chunky Grips
Cane Creek Bar Ends
Shimano XT Icetech Brakes
Thomson Seatpost
Fizik Saddle
Truvativ Stylo 1.1 OCT Cranks
RaceFace Single Ring - 34T
Endless Cog - 19T
Total Weight: Not yet weighed.

The Unit came with a rigid fork, making the equivalent suspension fork somewhere between 80-100mm. I already had the 120mm Tower handy and am addicted to the plush ride I get with the Mars Air spring combo. I knew this was going to raise the front of the bike up and change the HTA to the neighborhood of 68 degrees. I helped to counter this additional height by using a zero-stack headset and reducing the spacers under the stem to about 4mm. I was also able to save about 11mm in the headtube/headset stack height compared with the previous setup (Nimble 9 with a standard headtube). By also using a 50mm stem (stock Unit build is 60mm), I feel I was able to counter any effects on the steering that the extra 20mm of fork generated. I immediately noticed that the Unit is stiffer than the Canfield was, while still having some compliance when things get really choppy. Switchbacks, which had me worried, feel easier despite the longer stays. The bike climbs SOOOO much better. When I hammer on the pedals the bike just takes off! I'd have to attribute this change to the geometry, stiffness, and stem all working together.

Broken Frame

Well, I broke the Canfield:

It happened about two weeks ago during an evening Foothills ride with Mark, Mike, Bill, and Tim. I was pedaling out of the saddle on a climb and heard a sort of loud pop. I stopped, thinking I had sheared a chainring bolt or broken the chain. I scanned over the bike and didn't see anything wrong so I hopped back on and pedaled another 10 feet or so. I could still hear/feel it. I stopped again and started looking over the frame. That's when I noticed the frame! Holy Shit! Walked the couple of miles back to the car and finished the evening with beer/chips/burger.

I wasn't too keen on the new N9 frame that was over a pound heavier and would require a new rear axle setup, headset, and seat post collar? So I ordered a Kona Unit frameset and am riding the Vassago until it shows up.

Broke the frame on 7/29. Rode around the mountain + placitas trails + ski area trails + south and north foothills totaling 97 miles and about 9400 ft of climbing last Sunday. Rode to work on Wednesday. South foothills ride with Tim last Thursday. Rode about 34 miles today in the foothills starting from the house. I was going to add in North Foothills too but I felt too tired. Only got in about 65 miles for the week. Meh.

I'm on the verge of getting burned out and my legs feel dead. I think I need to take a week off the bike and go climbing or running.

I'm going to skip the watermelon beatdown race and just chill.