The Barry-Roubaix

After this post, I will no longer be posting my training plan every week. Now that I’ve officially entered my race year, what I work on from here to Iceman will be proprietary and I can’t afford any of my competition finding out how I will be training to beat them. I may occasionally provide a glimpse now and again, however, it will be very generic to protect trade secrets.

O.k., I don’t have competition trolling my blog and they certainly wouldn’t be trying to steal a page out of my training plan I’m just finding that posting my training plan is overwhelming my blog content and I’d prefer to keep my updates about getting outside (still boring you with the details, of course) rather than becoming a training blog.

BARRY ROUBAIX

 

So, the 2013 Barry-Roubaix was held yesterday, and I joyfully participated for the 3rd year running. This year’s event had several significant changes, which in my opinion, worked out phenomenally. The first and largest was that the start finish was moved to the city of Hastings. Hastings is a small rural town about 40 minutes south and slightly east of Grand Rapids. It has a population of approximately 7,400 in about a 5.4 square mile area. It has a neat downtown area with restaurants, breweries, retail, and parks. It is approximately directly opposite of the previous race start at Gunn Lake/Yankee Springs. By moving the start/finish venue, Rick Plite, the race founder and promoter was able to increase the participant cap from 1,500 to 3,000. 2,873 riders registered, nearly selling the race out again.

Because of the additional participants, the race start was split up into more waves. First off were the 62 mile competitors who went out in 2 waves, followed by 10 waves of 36 mile competitors, and rounded out with 2 waves of 24 mile competitors. This race start strategy resulted in wave sizes that ranged from 130 to 230 riders, which was both crazy and energizing all at the same time. I was in wave 3. Hastings shut down several streets for the weekend to help direct traffic away from the race course and create space for the festivities. Several parking lots were converted into team pit areas, temporary food court’s, awards area, and the beer tent.

Unfortunately, I mis-judged the time at which I should line up in my wave, and ended up very near the rear of my group, initially. As the 1st and 2nd waves left and we transitioned towards the start line, I did my best to jockey for better position, but still ended up in about the middle of the pack. When the gun went off, we were led out of town via motorcycle at about a 16-18 mph pace, which allowed me to quickly move up to the rear of the lead pack of 20-30 riders. Once the race hit gravel, a group of about 10 quickly separated and began pulling away. I decided that I needed to be a part of that group so I gave chase, crossing the gap with the help of a slight tailwind. Once on, I simply worked to stay in the slipstream of this group until I could get a feel for the course, the other rider’s strengths, and what advantages I might have. The pace was quick, particularly in the climbs, but I was able to keep it, never falling more than 10 feet behind on any climb and always able to out descend the group (often having to apply some brake). Within the first 5 miles we lost 3-4 riders to falls, which 1 was able to rejoin us.

As we caught the tail end of the two 62 mile waves, the icy road conditions became very apparent as a handful of riders (mostly on cyclocross bikes) went down. I could tell that the riders in my pack were very tentative once riders started going down, and felt the pace slow just slightly. The gravel roads up until that point were either snow/ice covered, or exposed but riddled with pot holes. Friday afternoon had been in the upper 30′s and sunny causing many of the gravel roads to become really wet and puddle up. But overnight, temps dropped into the 20′s and all of those puddles and moist areas froze. It was still only 28 degrees at the start of the race, and clouds prevented the sun from re-softening the patches of ice.

As we continued, I began developing a strategy of simply hanging on no matter what the cost on the hills with the expectation that the pot holes would take their tole on the cyclocross riders as they constantly stood up out of their saddles and hopped their bikes over unavoidable potholes. I was quite comfortable on my Epic, sometimes navigating around obstacles, and sometimes simply hammering through them just to hand over a little psychological message that I wasn’t going to get worn out because of the road conditions. The group was a bit schizophrenic in that we’d peloton out in the flats, bunch up in the climbs, and kind of stagger in areas that had either snow or pot holes as no one trusted the rider in front of them. Again, I didn’t care what line the guy in front of me took, I figured if they could handle it, I’d be fine. I was starting to settle in.

About 8.25 miles in, the course begins a small climb as the road ends in a ‘T’ where we then took a left into a short steep climb. The road at this particular intersection was covered with about a 1/2″ of crusty ice/snow. Traction was scarce. I saw an aggressive inside corner line that looked clean and decided to take it. It wasn’t my intention to make a move, but I was in about 3rd or 4th position at that point because of the aggressive line. That ended up being mistake #1. The line ended up being solid ice and I went down. Fortunately I didn’t fall hard, but I ended up getting caught on a fairly wide area of ice so getting back up and on my bike proved challenging. On top of the road challenges, I was in the wrong gear to start out at the bottom of a steep climb, but I had no choice as shifting gears under that much load had a high likelihood of tweaking something in the drivetrain. My guess is that I lost 10-20 seconds on the pack.

At that point, I had a decision to make: overcook myself to catch back up to the lead group, or; keep a pace I could push and hope that the road conditions would finally wear the lead group down (all on cyclocross bikes I believe). I chose option 2, and thus, made mistake #2. I never regained contact with the lead group, and ended up having to push my own wind for the next hour until the leaders from wave 4 and 5 caught me. Once they did, I realized my earlier mistake as I was able to latch on to that group and had no problem following them in for the last 4-5 miles of the race. I sprinted into Hastings with this group, making sure I stayed out of their way as I wasn’t in it anymore and didn’t want to cause any unnecessary mistakes for any of them. My final time was 1:54:43, about 5 minutes behind the winner of my wave,  which looked like a fun finish as the gap between 1st place and 4th place was 5 seconds. I know there were a number of riders that passed me when I spilled, but didn’t realize that there were that many as I ended up placing 11th.

I had no expectations of winning and have no elusions that I would have either been able to maintain contact with the lead group or had enough left in the tank to offer competition in the final sprint for a podium spot. What I was most proud of was that I took about 2 minutes off my time from last year and moved up 6 spots from 17th to 11th. I was able to capture a little bit of the day on my iPhone. I planned on capturing the race on my GoPro, but unfortunately left the camera on overnight on Friday night so when I went to turn it on just before the race, the battery was dead.

As far as my training plan for last week, I planned a very light week of essentially just keeping my legs fresh by doing some non-stressful spinning on the trainer. I put in 50 minutes on Monday, an hour and a half on Thursday, and just 30 minutes Friday night to liven up the legs in some pre-warm up preparation. Because diet can have just as much of an effect on performance as the race week routine, I went with a high-carb rice filled burrito Friday night and several banana’s and a Mojo bar for breakfast. I staggered my breakfast over a two hour window immediately prior to the race and it seemed to work out well. I also made sure I drank plenty of water as I didn’t want to have the same problem as Iceman last November.

After the race I enjoyed a couple of hours laughing with riders and having a couple of Founder’s ale’s and eating some taco’s from What The Truck’s mobile food truck. This 100% serious here, no matter where you’re reading this from, you need to find out where that truck is going to be next and drive however long it takes to get to it for the tacos. They’re that good.

Barry-Roubaix 2013 rounded out to be a great event. Rick is proving to be a master race organizer and pulled off a perfect event despite nearly doubling the attendance. I’m looking forward to 2014′s race.

My next post will be the milestone 100th post. I’m brewing up a doozy which will dive into a rather personal, but significant realization that has changed some of my behavior over the past couple of weeks, but has also given me a method of understanding decisions and actions. Consider this a teaser….

Michigan Mountain Biking Race Season!!!!!

This weekend has been wild for me as I think through my final preparation for my first race of 2013 next Saturday. While it sure doesn’t feel like race season outside, I’m getting a firm boost of excitement with the Absa Cape Epic kicking off this morning and next week’s Barry-Roubaix (technically a cyclocross race, but mountain bikers are welcome). I celebrated with hot lap to Dunton Park with my daughter (7.1 mph average) for some playground fun in the warm sun. I wasn’t planning on riding hard today, but she kept pushing me to go faster

 

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a pre-ride in of the new Barry-Roubaix course this year. It travels about 95% of the same roads as last year, but the race start/finish has been moved to Hastings, MI rather than the Yankee Springs State Game Area campground. It actually changes the course quite dramatically because Hastings is essentially on the opposite side of the race loop from the historical start/finish. The major concern this year has been course conditions as the killer gravel road race utilizes several seasonal roads that either don’t get plowed, don’t get plowed often, and/or are in the shade limiting the sun’s ability to melt snow off the road. I’ve been scavenging and devouring up every pre-ride report I can find. If you, too, are looking for some idea of what you’re in for, here’s a link to a Flicker page from today, and here’s some YouTube footage (6 part series) from last weekend.

The long range forecast for next Saturday is currently sunny with a high in the low 40′s and a low of 30. Considering we’ll be starting at or shortly after 10a.m., I’m guessing its going to be on the lower end of that range. However, with the sun and warming temperatures, it could cause whatever snow is on the road to soften and create some major road suck as well as make them squirrelly. Top that off with snow forecasted for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week, and this has all the makings for one painful race for the record books. Someone I was talking to said this could be one of those races that everyone talks about for decades and those who participated will be able to boast “I rode THAT year”.

As far as the Absa Cape Epic goes, today marks the beginning of the 7 day event with the prologue. There are a few teams riding in honor of Burry Stander, the South African professional mountain biker who had won the last couple of Absa Cape Epic’s but was tragically killed by a taxi this winter while training. His teammate, Christoph Sauser, is partnering with last year’s Olympic Gold Medalist, Jaroslav Kulhavy for this year’s event under the team name Burry Stander SONGO. They proceeded to hammer the field this morning, opening a gap of 1:06 in just 55 minutes. As a comparison, Burry and Christoph took the prologue by just 13 seconds last year, but went on to win by 27 minutes. I have to believe that there were some emotions driving today’s action as Kulhavy pulled Sauser from line to line. Here’s an intro to the Cape Epic and this year’s race course.

Although MY first true mountain bike race won’t happen until the Yankee Springs Time Trial in late April, I’m beginning to ramp up the adrenaline and excitement.

Milestones

 

With yesterday’s ride of just under 3 hours, I surpassed the 10 hour weekly training mark for the first time. Ever. I’m paying for it a bit today with a sore lower back (legs are tight as a drum pulling on my lower back muscles) but I’ll fix that with an extra warm-up period each ride and plenty of water. That’s a major accomplishment for me. It will be important that I keep up that level or higher saddle time. I also am beginning to work harder on the trainer and have begun what I’m calling “Spring Training”. I’m working on a vide (imagine that) that I’ll post sometime after the Barry-Roubaix.

Our ride yesterday was much better than my ride of the same route last Sunday. The shoulder of Lakeshore Drive had firmed up over the week making it feasible to ride on. Most of the snow had melted off the shoulder as well and drained leaving very few puddles to dodge. The gravel roads were also free of snow/ice for the most part so there were no spills (or even close calls). I rode with two other shop teammates up to the northernmost point and just as we were reaching our turn-around spot, two other friendly faces came riding around the corner. So, we made the return south with five of us, which was great because we were heading into the wind on the way back.

It’s still muddy and cold out there, but there’s just no better feeling than spending time outside on the bike. I had some really wise advice over the past couple of weeks that is allowing me to relax going into the Barry-Roubaix in 2 weeks: don’t worry about the podium, it’s supposed to be a fun race for me and just a part of the training for mountain bike season. I’m still going to give it all I have and am a bit anxious that I’m not in the same shape this year as last year at this time, but I’m no longer placing the same level of expectation on myself as compared to, say, Iceman. It’s going to be a great ride and a fun day.

So on to my training plan. Did anyone notice my scheduling conflict last week? I didn’t think so. I had planned two rides for Saturday which made the plan seem relatively easy until Thursday when I realized the error. I simply added a 45 minute recovery spin on Friday night, which was helpful for Saturday’s ride anyway. I try to plan out my rides around known events, but my actual rides usually vary a bit in response to conflicts that come up and how I’m feeling. Here’s the plan for this week (Sunday is actual):

TRAINING SCHEDULE: WEEK OF MARCH 10, 2013
		Total	Completed ?
	Recovery Spin:
	Spin the lets out	80	Sunday
	Sustain:
10	10 minute warm up – 30%	90	Monday
30	20 minute sustain – 80%
35	5 minute rest – 30%
55	20 minute sustain – 80%
60	5 minute rest – 30%
80	20 minute sustain – 80%
90	10 minute cool down – 30%
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Outdoor Fun Ride:
	Whatever for however long	120	Wednesday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Sprint Intervals:	105	Thursday
10	10 minute warm up – 30%
	15 second on – 100%
20	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
25	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
35	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
40	5 minute rest – 40%
	15 second on – 100%
50	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
55	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
65	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
70	5 minute rest – 40%
	15 second on – 100%
80	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
85	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
95	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
105	10 minute cool down – 40%
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Recovery Spin:
	Spin the legs out	45	Friday
	Outdoor Lakeshore Ride:
	Wherever; just at 75-80% effort	150	Saturday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	TOTAL	9.8

Ice Ride

So I took my Epic out today for it’s inaugural ride for the 2013 season. It was a welcome return of both suspension and gears.  It was a bright sunny day over in my neck of the woods, but the temperature was hovering right around freezing and there was a pretty stiff North West wind so I bundled up pretty good. With the Barry-Roubaix now 3 weeks away, it was time to find out where I stood in my preparations.

I wasn’t sure what kind of shape I was going to be in after not having a great winter of getting outside for rides. Last year’s abnormally warm winter put me (as well as many other Michigan riders) in great shape for the spring race season. I planned out a 42 mile route that included my well traveled Lakeshore Drive gravel shoulder routine as well as the gravel road route that I found last fall. As soon as I started heading out to the big lake, I knew I was going to be in for a challenge. Here’s the link to my Strava:

http://app.strava.com/activities/43044286

The bike path out to the lake is now 70-80% clear, but with my Epic the little bit of snow didn’t bother me or present much of a problem. With the sun beating down on it, the covered areas were pretty soft without any ice. Then heading north on Lakeshore Drive, the wind and conditions became a real factor. I always hop off the bike path at that point and jump over to the shoulder for the gravel training, which was a real mess. Some areas were totally clear and dried out; some areas were still snow covered, but hard-packed; and some areas were so soupy from snow melting that I felt like I was dragging a couple of riders with me. Add in the headwind and I started to become pretty discouraged at the speed I was carrying. I started fighting my typical mental battles around cutting my planned route short, coming up with every logical, acceptable excuse in the book on why it would be o.k. if I couldn’t complete my plan today.

I won at that point and continued on. I found out, though, that this would not be the worst of the work. After my Lakeshore Drive tour, I head a bit north and then east at the power plant to head over to farm country where the few gravel roads left between Holland and Grand Haven exist. Less than 30 seconds onto the gravel, or should I say Ice Road, I was sprawled out in someone’s driveway. Normally I like to carry a pretty good sense of humor and self deprivation about these things, but that really hurt. I wasn’t down long before collecting myself and hoping back on the bike but I felt like I had broken my hand for the next 10 minutes or so. I found later that I had given myself a pretty good bruise and scrape on my upper hip as well.

The gravel road did improve and all was going pretty well up until I hit M45. Once north of it, the road becomes lined with tall, mature trees that hide the street from direct sunlight that would normally melt the snow. I tentatively navigated the last couple of miles to where my turn-around was. Immediately, as soon as I stopped to turn around and grab the last of my chomps, the combination of my lack of studded tires and hard soled shoes provided for another excellent opportunity for me to lay on the ground. Fortunately I didn’t land as hard as the first time, but it still pointed out to me how slick the road actually was. My ride back south was at a snail’s pace, despite now having the benefit of the wind.

I was able to make it out of the worst section without incident, and started enjoying the support of that North West wind. Though I did realize, that when you’re heading directly south, you still tend to forget the effects of the NORTH part of that wind in favor of the still evident WEST crosswind J. My speed picked up dramatically and I headed home without further incident. My bike was caked with mud that had been frozen to my bike and the final score was 2 hours, 45 minutes. I’ve completed that ride in far less time, so I have my work cut out for me, but it was still great to get outside, figure out where I stood in my conditioning, and enjoy the sunshine.

For the week, I am removing all off-the-bike leg strength exercises as I kick up the time. I’m looking forward to a good week.

TRAINING SCHEDULE: WEEK OF MARCH 3, 2013
		Total	Completed ?
	Outdoor Fun Ride:
	Whatever for however long	165	Sunday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Recovery Ride:
	Strength Training – Upper Body	60	Monday
	Sprint Intervals:
10	10 minute warm up – 30%
	15 second on – 100%
20	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
25	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
35	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
40	5 minute rest – 40%
	15 second on – 100%
50	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
55	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
65	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
70	5 minute rest – 40%
	15 second on – 100%
80	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
85	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
95	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
105	10 minute cool down – 40%	105	Tuesday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Outdoor Lakeshore Ride:
	Wherever; just at 75-80% effort for 90 minutes	60	Saturday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Sustain:
10	10 minute warm up – 30%
30	20 minute sustain – 80%
35	5 minute rest – 30%
55	20 minute sustain – 80%
60	5 minute rest – 30%
80	20 minute sustain – 80%
90	10 minute cool down – 30%	90	Thursday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Outdoor Lakeshore Ride:
	Wherever; just at 75-80% effort for 90 minutes	120	Saturday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	TOTAL	10.0

A Return to the Wild

 

Boyne Mountain Challenge 2012

 

Generally speaking, cyclists enjoy being outside. That’s probably what drew them to riding in the first place (outside of possibly a necessity for transportation). But riding in the basement all winter on a trainer can make me forget the joy of riding. And then, all it takes is a bright sunny weekend to rejuvenate my enthusiasm and determination. It probably doesn’t hurt that my first race of the season, The Barry-Roubaix, is now less than a month away.

With temperatures hovering right around freezing during mid-day both Saturday and Sunday, I took advantage of the re-appearing bike paths and my wife’s generous suggestion that I go for a ride. Between Saturday’s and Sunday’s rides, I put in 4 ½ hours (about an hour of that was on the trainer last night making sure I got a good jump on the week). You couldn’t wipe the grin off my face during either ride (even when I stuck my foot in my wheel and ended up on the bike path head first…I literally laughed), and you couldn’t dampen my mood all day today.

I was particularly lost in the day while riding through a section of the bike path that meanders through the pines. It’s a feeling like no other, to me. It’s a feeling I believe humans are meant to feel. Retreating from the concrete jungle’s we’ve created for ourselves to ‘live’ in is very rejuvenating to me. No….I didn’t hug any trees while I was out riding or happen across some ‘funny stuff’. I mean it, though, interacting with nature is therapeutic.

Anyway, I’m ramping up my training this week. We have some snow in the forecast (the system has not been given a name, yet, which is a major annoyance I’ll reserve for some other time). If it’s on the lower end of th

e forecasted range of accumulation, I’m planning on getting outside Wednesday night for a while again. Saturday I’m riding in a Livestrong Foundation fundraiser for a couple of hours, so at the end of it, I’ll have around 9 hours in this week. I’m not sure I’ve ever ridden 9 hours in one week, so this will be a good test of my current state of endurance. I hope your week is well and we’ll catch you soon.

 

TRAINING SCHEDULE: WEEK OF FEBRUARY 24, 2013
		Total	Completed ?
	Strength Program:
10	10 minute warm up – 30%
12	2 minutes highest gear – sitting
14	2 minutes down a gear
16	2 minutes down a gear
18	2 minutes down a gear
22	4 minutes down a gear
24	2 minutes up a gear
26	2 minutes up a gear
28	2 minutes up a gear
30	2 minutes highest gear – sitting
40	10 minute rest
42	2 minutes highest gear – sitting
44	2 minutes down a gear
46	2 minutes down a gear
48	2 minutes down a gear
52	4 minutes down a gear
54	2 minutes up a gear
56	2 minutes up a gear
58	2 minutes up a gear
60	2 minutes highest gear – sitting
70	10 minute cool down – 30%	70	Sunday
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Outdoor Fun Ride:
	Lakeshore Loop in the snow	110	Sunday
	Recovery Ride:
	Easy spin	60	Monday
	Sprint Intervals:
10	10 minute warm up – 30%
	15 second on – 100%
20	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
25	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
35	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
40	5 minute rest – 40%
	15 second on – 100%
50	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
55	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
65	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
70	5 minute rest – 40%
	15 second on – 100%
80	15 second rest – 20%    -   20 total reps (10 minutes)
85	5 minute rest – 40%
	40 seconds on – 90%
95	20 seconds off – 40%    10 total reps (10 minutes)
105	10 minute cool down – 40%	105	Tuesday
	Strength Training – Lower Body
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Outdoor Lakeshore Ride:
	Wherever; just at 75-80% effort for 90 minutes	90	Wednesday
	Strength Training – Lower Body
	Strength Training – Upper Body
	Ultimate Cycling Challenge:
	Ridgepoint – Pick a Strategy	120	Saturday
	TOTAL	9.3

 

A Michigan Mountain Biking Test

Don’t Stick Your Foot In There While Moving.

This is what happens when you try to knock snow off your foot by taping it on your front fork while riding. You can very easily miss the fork and stick it in the front wheel, catapulting you up over your handle bars and onto the ground in, oh I don’t know, less than a second? I’m amazed that all I did was bend a spoke. The wheel even stayed true (until I started riding it that way). It’s a Velocity Blunt. I’ve had issues with the SL’s on my rear wheel, but this one has been bullet proof, and now that I’m back to the base model Blunt on the rear again, I’ve had no issues there, either.

Anyway, I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on a couple of projects that I’m excited about. The first is a lo-fi mountain bike stage challenge that incorporates most of the West Michigan mountain biking trails. What’s lo-fi you say? Well, all of the participants will be timed by using Strava and completing the Strava segments that have already been set up at each of the trails. Each rider will have 72 hours to complete all 8 trails. And to eliminate the need for offering all of the various race categories, I’ve developed a handicapping system to help level the playing field. I like to think of it as the BCS of Michigan Mountain Biking. But, because nothing like this has been developed before (that I’m aware of), I’m having to do it by hand. This has been very tedious.

Essentially, what I’m doing is going through about 10-15 races from last year, including the highly attended Barry-Roubaix, Yankee Springs Time Trial, Ore-to-Shore, and Iceman, and creating a ‘par’ completion time by averaging the finish times of the fastest 5% of the riders at each race. This is pretty simple for point-to-point and single-lap races because everyone rides the exact same course (I consider the different distance options at the BR and O2S as separate races). Many of the MMBA’s CPS races, however, require a little finagling because depending on your race class, you complete a different number of laps than the Elite riders (typically the make-up of the fastest 5%). To solve this, I went through everyone’s lap times, and when necessary, added 5% to the previous lap time to come up with the following lap time as many times as it took to equalize the number of laps for everyone. Finally I took the difference between my participant’s adjusted time (AT) at each race, subtracted the par time (PT), divided it by the AT and multiplied it by 90%. The 90% was to create a slight disadvantage for completing fewer laps. This works well for riders who may ride at the top of their class, but could very well compete in the class above them (possibly like me last year).

What you end up with, is a percentage of deviation from PT that you can average using all of the races that a rider completed and apply to each rider’s actual times for each Strava segment in the challenge. Add them all up from each of the trails and compare them to everyone else’s to see who was the fastest that weekend.

So part two of my project, which is actually where I had started and ran into the idea above, is to create a Michigan Mountain Biker Ranking. I had the notion to come up with something about a year ago, but didn’t really start mapping out how that might work until late last fall after Iceman. Some of the factors that need to be considered in putting a list like this together is not only normalizing the number of laps at each race like I did for my Strava Challenge, but also come up with some sort of trail rating in order to appropriately differentiate the race difficulty, or maybe better described as the trail type. The theory there is that some riders are better at certain types of races than others. I’m more of an endurance rider and do better at longer races with mid-to-more total elevation gain.

I’m still working out what calculations I might use to come up with an overall rider ranking, but in the meantime I ended up creating what I believe to be a fair trail rating equation that uses three factors: elevation gain per mile; trail length; and technical difficulty. Of those three factors, technical difficulty will be the most subjective, while elevation gain and trail length have been some of the more difficult data to find. For that I have gone back to Strava. Because that data is based on GPS information which is somewhat subject to each device’s reception there is some discrepancy and inaccuracy (or lack of precision), if I use the same type of data for all of the courses it should still provide a good comparison. This is what I have come up with so far:

Trail / Race Course (Per lap)	Elev. Gain per Mile	Climb Rating	Tech Rating	Length	Length Rating	Overall Course Rating 3
Addison Oaks	0.0	10.0		6.0	8.3	6.1
Al Quaal	0.0	10.0		12.2	4.1	4.7
Al Sabo	0.0	10.0		5.9	8.5	6.2
Allegan SGA	18.8	8.9	9	16.0	3.1	7.0
Anderson Park	0.0	10.0		7.0	7.1	5.7
Arcadia Dunes	104.3	3.7	3	11.5	4.3	3.7
Aspen Park	0.0	10.0		6.0	8.3	6.1
Bald Mountain	0.0	10.0		12.0	4.2	4.7
Barry Roubaix 24	66.7	6.0	8	24.0	2.1	5.4
Barry Roubaix 36	61.1	6.3	8	36.0	1.4	5.2
Barry Roubaix 62	45.2	7.3	8	62.0	0.8	5.4
Bass River	18.8	8.9	2	8.0	6.3	5.7
Bennett Park	0.0	10.0		8.0	6.3	5.4
Betsie River Pathway	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Big M	100.0	4.0	4	40.0	1.3	3.1
Black Mountain	0.0	10.0		30.0	1.7	3.9
Bloomer	0.0	10.0		8.0	6.3	5.4
Boyne Challenge	133.9	2.0	2	9.3	5.4	3.1
Boyne Mountain	125.0	2.5	2	16.0	3.1	2.5
Brighton	0.0	10.0		14.0	3.6	4.5
Bruno’s Run	0.0	10.0		9.0	5.6	5.2
Burchfield	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Cadillac Pathway	0.0	10.0		13.0	3.8	4.6
Cannon Township MTB Trail	0.0	10.0		1.2	41.7	17.2
Canonsburg Ski Area	97.4	4.2	4	7.7	6.5	4.9
Canonsburg State Game Area	60.0	6.4	5	7.5	6.7	6.0
Cheboygan	0.0	10.0		7.0	7.1	5.7
Chippewa Hills Pathway	0.0	10.0		6.6	7.6	5.9
Clear Lake	0.0	10.0		4.0	12.5	7.5
Clinton River Park Trail	0.0	10.0		4.5	11.1	7.0
Copper Harbor	0.0	10.0		25.0	2.0	4.0
Deerfield	0.0	10.0		7.5	6.7	5.6
Eagle Run Trail	0.0	10.0		7.0	7.1	5.7
Edwards Creek	0.0	10.0		7.5	6.7	5.6
Ehlco	0.0	10.0		26.9	1.9	4.0
Ella Sharp	0.0	10.0		11.0	4.5	4.8
Fort Custer Stampede	0.0	10.0	4	11.6	4.3	6.1
Fort Custer Trail	0.0	10.0	4	20.0	2.5	5.5
Frankenmuth Trails	0.0	10.0		2.0	25.0	11.7
Gladwin Trail	0.0	10.0		6.0	8.3	6.1
Grand Island	0.0	10.0		23.0	2.2	4.1
Grand River	0.0	10.0		4.0	12.5	7.5
Greenville Shearer Rd	0.0	10.0		5.2	9.6	6.5
Hanson Hills	0.0	10.0		21.0	2.4	4.1
Harlow Lake	0.0	10.0		18.0	2.8	4.3
Hartwick Pines	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Heritage Park	0.0	10.0		8.0	6.3	5.4
Hewens Creek	0.0	10.0		4.5	11.1	7.0
Hickory Glen	0.0	10.0		6.5	7.7	5.9
High Country Pathway	0.0	10.0		80.0	0.6	3.5
Highland	167.0	0.0		14.7	3.4	1.1
Holdridge	106.9	3.6		14.0	3.6	2.4
Hungerford Lake	0.0	10.0		13.0	3.8	4.6
Iceman Cometh	82.4	5.1	5	30.0	1.7	3.9
Ionia	0.0	10.0		7.5	6.7	5.6
Island Lake	52.0	6.9		13.0	3.8	3.6
Jailhouse Trail	0.0	10.0		5.5	9.1	6.4
Kensington to Proud Lk Connector	0.0	10.0		2.5	20.0	10.0
Lake Ann Pathway	0.0	10.0		5.8	8.6	6.2
Lakelands Trail	0.0	10.0		13.0	3.8	4.6
Lakeshore Park	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Lightning Bend City Park	0.0	10.0		7.0	7.1	5.7
Love Creek	0.0	10.0		4.2	11.9	7.3
Luton Park	66.7	6.0	3	9.0	5.6	4.9
MacKenzie Trail	0.0	10.0		12.0	4.2	4.7
Madeline Bertrand	0.0	10.0		2.2	22.7	10.9
Marquette South Trails	0.0	10.0		20.0	2.5	4.2
Maybury	0.0	10.0		7.0	7.1	5.7
Merrell Trail – Red Direction	101.7	3.9	3	5.9	8.5	5.1
Merrell Trail – Yellow Direction	101.7	3.9	4	5.9	8.5	5.5
Michigan Tech Trails	0.0	10.0		18.0	2.8	4.3
Mid Michigan Community College	0.0	10.0		10.1	5.0	5.0
Midland City Forest	0.0	10.0		13.0	3.8	4.6
Midland-Mackinac Trail	0.0	10.0		11.4	4.4	4.8
Milford Trail	0.0	10.0		5.0	10.0	6.7
Morton-Taylor Trails	0.0	10.0		8.0	6.3	5.4
Munson	0.0	10.0		5.5	9.1	6.4
Negwegon	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
North Country Trail	73.7	5.6		25.7	1.9	2.5
North Higgins Lake	0.0	10.0		6.5	7.7	5.9
Norway Ridge Pathway	0.0	10.0		7.0	7.1	5.7
Ogemaw Hills Pathway	0.0	10.0		13.6	3.7	4.6
Olson Park	0.0	10.0		5.0	10.0	6.7
Ore to Shore	31.4	8.1	5	49.5	1.0	4.7
Orion Oaks	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Ortonville	0.0	10.0		3.5	14.3	8.1
Owassippe	124.9	2.5		11.0	4.5	2.4
Pando Ski Area	100.0	4.0	5	6.0	8.3	5.8
Pigeon Creek	0.0	10.0	9	10.0	5.0	8.0
Pine Haven	0.0	10.0		9.0	5.6	5.2
Pomeroy/Henry Lake	0.0	10.0		50.0	1.0	3.7
Pontiac Lake	110.0	3.4		11.0	4.5	2.6
Porcupine Mountains	0.0	10.0		25.0	2.0	4.0
Potowatomi	88.2	4.7		17.1	2.9	2.5
Proud Lake	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Refuge Bike Park	0.0	10.0		3.8	13.2	7.7
Rifle River	0.0	10.0		15.0	3.3	4.4
Riley Trails	41.7	7.5	6	6.0	8.3	7.3
River Bends	0.0	10.0		6.9	7.2	5.7
Robinette’s	0.0	10.0		5.0	10.0	6.7
Rolling Hills Park	0.0	10.0		3.0	16.7	8.9
Rouge Park	0.0	10.0		3.0	16.7	8.9
Ruby Campground	0.0	10.0		5.0	10.0	6.7
Seven Lakes	0.0	10.0		5.0	10.0	6.7
Sharon Mills	0.0	10.0		3.8	13.2	7.7
Shingle Mill Pathway	0.0	10.0		14.0	3.6	4.5
Sleeper	0.0	10.0		4.0	12.5	7.5
Sleepy Hollow	0.0	10.0		10.0	5.0	5.0
Stony Creek	64.0	6.2		14.0	3.6	3.2
Swedetown	0.0	10.0		33.0	1.5	3.8
T.K. Lawless	0.0	10.0		9.0	5.6	5.2
Tisdale Triangle Pathway	0.0	10.0		10.1	5.0	5.0
Upper Macatawa Trail	100.0	4.0	3	2.0	25.0	10.7
Valley Spur Bike Trail	0.0	10.0		26.0	1.9	4.0
VASA Singletrack	0.0	10.0		13.0	3.8	4.6
Wakely Lake	0.0	10.0		16.5	3.0	4.3
Waterloo	0.0	10.0		5.0	10.0	6.7
Whiskey Creek	0.0	10.0		22.0	2.3	4.1
Wilderness SP	0.0	10.0		16.0	3.1	4.4
Wildwood Hills	0.0	10.0		9.5	5.3	5.1
Yankee Springs	90.0	4.6	4	13.6	3.7	4.1
Yankee Springs Time Trial	109.1	3.5	5	22.0	2.3	3.6
Averages	83.3

So that’s what I had been working on before I got crazy busy, and I should be able to get back to it again over the next couple of months to finish it up. In the meantime, I’m working on ramping up my training for my first race, which is now a month away. I’m really looking forward to racing again and I’ll be sure to keep my feet out of my wheels from now on

.

Passing The Time Away

I decided during my ride tonight that I should share what I watch while on the trainer. In general, I mostly watch anything mountain biking, but have a library of cyclocross, mountain biking (cross country, fat bike, and downhill, separated of course), road cycling, and music videos.

I am just completing the Absa Cape Epic series (all the videos are available by clicking on the hyper-link) from 2012 which cuts the 7 stage race into 8 20-25 minute clips. It’s in highlight format for each stage, but shows some great racing and a couple of personal interest stories along the way.

I’ve also worn out all of the Iceman Cometh Challenge race footage I could find. Race videos are pretty much all of the POV variety, which I prefer, and can range from a 10 minute highlight compilation to several 35 minute splices of the race that you can watch back-to-back-to-back all the way to one complete ~2 hour video of the entire race. The highlight video actually has quite a bit of me in it (black and yellow Cross Country Cycle jersey starting at the 1:52 mark).

Even though the course will change slightly, I’ll start watching 2012 race footage of the Barry-Roubaix in the coming weeks just to re-familiarize myself with the course. I find it helpful to see some of the hills, turns, and terrain of upcoming races even if I have the chance to pre-ride the course. In the same vein I have a video of the Boyne Marathon that’s 2 hours long for some of my longer trainer rides.

What I really like about YouTube is that you can set up playlists to save and sort various videos that you can go back to later. Within each playlist you can manage their order (though the functionality is a bit clunky) and then play all without having to do anything. This is really slick while on the bike if you have your order set up the way you want.

I also have a Vimeo account which is helpful in finding video of a certain race because not everyone uploads to the same service. You can organize videos into playlists there as well, but their search engine is really particular and I find that I have to search for multiple iterations of the same race to find all of the video (e.g. Iceman, Iceman Cometh, Iceman Cometh Challenge, Iceman 2012, etc.). I really haven’t run out of YouTube video, yet, so I haven’t been paying much attention to my Vimeo playlists.

We finally got snow on the west side of Michigan, so after this cold front blows through and the wind dies down I’ll be spending more time outside (I love snow riding) and won’t probably need the videos as much, but until then….

Dead. Tired.

Dead as in bike light and shuffle tonight during my ride. Tired as in my legs after this weekend’s race (Barry-Roubaix) and tonight’s training.

The Race

One of the things I hoped to accomplish when I rejuvenated my blogging hobby was to write and share stories about bike racing and outdoor activities in general. I don’t think these activities, even as widely attended as they are, get enough press coverage in the local and general media. Well, I don’t think I could do a better job than kolo t.c.’s coverage, so I’m just going to link it here: Course Preview; Rick Plite Interview; Pre-Race Weather Update; Race Recap & Results; and Lessons from Barry-Roubaix.

My race went as well as I could have hoped for. I had no real idea where I’d end up considering a 2:37 pre-race ride two weeks before and a ton of rain Friday night. My hope was that the team would still be gunning for a 2 hour finish and accomplish its mission. Right out of the gate, though, I got separated from the four other Cross Country Cycle team members that started in wave 3 probably partially due to me being too polite and partially due to the mad nature of starting 350 riders at once (segmented by age, not ability, mind you). This resulted in me making a risky move about a mile into the race by gunning out into the opposing traffic side of the paved road, burning a bit of energy by passing a bunch of riders, and catching back up to my teammates. I think in the end this was a risk that paid off. I ran into relatively manageable traffic climbing the first two-track climb and settled in for the rest of the long, hilly ride.

Once I was past this first climb, I reacquainted myself with the riders around me. I found two of my teammates within about 20 feet of me (in front and behind), but couldn’t find the other two. They must have dropped us on the hill. We were all on 29ers, so I knew we could all ride together if we found each other, which sounded good to me so I picked up the pace to chase.

This was only my second Barry-Roubaix with the first being last year. I was not attempting to be real competitive and didn’t really think about ‘working together’ last year with anyone, so this year I was really looking forward to planning and executing on some drafting strategies. What I found throughout the race was that on several occasions I’d look behind me and find about 10 riders latched on to my wheel but when I’d roll out to let the train by and recover on the rear, the train would fall apart, everyone looking around aimlessly like they were just caught stealing. Fortunately both of my teammates with me were more willing to let me drag on their wheel for some rests. I think we all worked together pretty well, but then again, I’m new to team tactics and strategy so I don’t know if we executed well or not. I was appreciative of the time spent behind Todd and Mark’s wheel and I can only hope they had the opportunity to ride mine as well.

About 14-15 miles into the race, I looked over at Mark and said “man, Jarett and Kevin got a good jump on us, I was hoping we’d catch back up to them” to which Mark responded something like “they’re behind us”. What?! So instead of me chasing them, I was working extra hard to pull away from them. Derrrr. I’m going to need to pay attention better.

Anyway, we ended up riding together until about the last 6 miles where Todd and I pulled away on the last two-track climb. I got stopped by a cycle cross rider that had to dismount because of the sand. I was following too closely to navigate around him so I was off the bike as well. Good thing I’ve been running a little bit here and there. After remounting my trusty steed once the ground firmed up enough, I began chasing Todd down again to ride in to the finish line. I latched on to three cycle cross riders once we were back on the paved road and together we caught up with Todd, but he had been working alone for too long and didn’t have anything left in the tank to latch on to us. I ended up following those riders in to the finish line at 1:56:39, good for 17^th in my age group (35-39) with Todd and Mark both coming in under 2 hours as well. Kevin and Jarett weren’t too far behind us after all and came in at 2:02 and some change.

So; Tonight.

Not wanting to get too hung up in recovering from this weekend’s race, I decided to revamp my training route a bit and introduce some recently found training tips. Now, I’ll tell you that eating a big ol’ burrito (rice instead of beans) for lunch and pepperoni pizza for dinner is not exactly what one might describe as ‘training food’. It may not be the worst, but the grease from the pizza alone, well, it’s just not conducive to high energy output for my body.

I left at about 9:15, which is a bit later than I wanted, but I had a bunch of other things going with the kids and wife tonight so getting to my route planning was delayed a bit and pushed my start back. Knowing that I have the Yankee Springs Time Trial coming up in a few weeks, I wanted to get in some more hill climbing and recovery training to mimic the demands of mountain biking on one of the area’s hillier trails.

After finding an article from a Facebook Friend with some training exercises, I decided to incorporate 3 of them into my ride tonight…never mind the fact that they were all meant to be done independently on separate nights. By the time I got through the first two exercises and 55 minutes into my ride, I was ready to bag it. After convincing myself that I at least needed to attempt the third exercise, the first, and brighter, and newer, of my two lights I use for biking turned off due to a dead battery. No big deal, I had another capable light attached to my helmet (on already). Then my iPod shuffle died on me. Again, not a big deal, it was just rather humorous, if not a bit appropriate, that all my equipment was running out of juice. So was I.

I did half of the third exercise (it’s really just a bunch of intervals) and booked it home before I lost my helmet light. All in, I had another 27 mile training ride and an 1:36 in the saddle for a Monday night. Not bad. Oh, and I love where I live. The stars and moon were out tonight when I started which were glistening off Lake Michigan as I rode up Lakeshore. It was such a peaceful night, it reminded me why I like to be outside, even when I’m dead tired.

Packing It All In

So I talked my brother-in-law Evan to ride with me right after church this morning because there was a threat of rain coming up out of the South. For as much work as we have put into training for the Barry-Roubaix next Saturday, it’s our wives who are the real hero’s for letting us out of the house to go have fun on our bikes (yes, even grueling base training is fun) while they care for our young kids. Biking truly is a team sport.

Knowing that today was going to be the last day of hard training before we tapered leading up to Saturday’s race, we really pushed it. Here’s the map of my loop:  http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/76160760   Evan’s is slightly different because we both bike to essentially the Ottawa Beach overflow campground as a warm up and then start the pain from there. I took 8 minutes off the route even after adding a 10^th of a mile from earlier this week. That also included a full 15 minute recovery from minutes 51-66. Then we blasted our legs for 4.5 miles into the wind by absolutely tearing as fast as we could, taking turns pulling until the last ½ mile of that section where we both took the wind head-on at 23-25 mph.

When I got home my mother-in-law was picking up the girls for a nature walk at Hemlock Crossings and Courtney was packing up to head to the mall for a couple of hours which meant I was going to be able to rest my weary legs for a while. The last thing I had on my mind for the afternoon was hopping back on a bike and heading to Captain Sundae for ice cream with the family. However, sure enough, at 4pm after the girls had all returned back from their adventures, that bell was rung and I mounted up the Burley to my road bike and we departed on the 2 mile trek to the ice cream wonderland. It’s one of the few times that I’ve been thankful that our oldest is still on her beginner bike that has the gearing of a come-along. She can spin her little heart out and not break 5mph (I don’t actually run my speedometer when we ride together, so I don’t have any idea how slow we go, but it’s slow).

What was meant to be a nice leisurely ride to the ice cream shop nearly ended up being a scary catastrophe when a car (with what appeared to be a late-teen, early 20 something driver) blew through a red light at the intersection we were crossing near our house (the only major street crossing and the intersection I chose because it has a traffic light). There was confusion about who I was yelling at to stop (I typically have a fairly keen sense for my surroundings and had recognized the speeding car 100 yards before the intersection as going too fast to be slowing for the light), which ended up saving Paige from being in front of this car. I’m not even really sure who I was talking to. The speed limit on this road is 45 and he had to have still been going 30 after hitting the brakes late when he realized he was blowing a red light. Needless to say our nerves were a bit on edge by the time we got around that intersection.

Our ice cream was delicious as we expected and the return trip non-eventful, thankfully. I threw some chicken legs on the grill from our new found favorite local chicken farmer and had a tasty bbq chicken dinner (that included some moments itself), and finished the day off for the girls with a quick game of Cranium Junior before packing them into bed.

Every ounce of this day was enjoyed and, though my legs are tired, I feel refreshed. If this is what summer is going to be like this year, I’m going to enjoy it.

Spring Forward

So, yeah, you can tell it’s much warmer out now; I’ve been spending more time riding and less time writing. Last week was wild. I started with a snow ride on Sunday, rode in a short sleeve shirt on Wednesday, and was back in my full winter garb on Saturday morning. I’m just under 2 weeks out from my first 2012 race, The Barry-Roubaix, and I’ve been in full training mode over the last few weeks preparing. I’ll push hard this week, and then have fun and taper a bit next week before the 24^th.

Saturday morning I pre-rode the course with a group of friends which was good to get a feel for what 3,400 feet of climbing over 36 miles feels like again. I raced it last year, but there were a couple of slight changes this year and I really forget a lot after a year (some things your brain just chooses to block out). It was also good to think through strategy of where to push and where to recover. I have no delusions of winning the race, but I want to really push myself and destroy my time from last year (and win the race).

Here’s the Garmin for the race as provided by the folks at The Killer Gravel Road Race/Barry-Roubaix: Map/Elevation

My training this week includes a ‘recovery ride’ yesterday, rest today, 2 ½ hour ride tomorrow with by brother-in-law, Evan, whatever I can fit in on Wednesday (maybe a run), hill repeats with my brother on Thursday if it’s not raining, Friday off,  and another whatever-I-can-fit-in on Saturday. I’m making a choice not to join the Wednesday night trail night with the boys for until after the Barry-Roubaix for simple life balance reasons. I can’t wait until that starts back up again, though.

It looks like the weather is supposed to stay in the 40’s-60’s and only rain will put a damper on my plans through next week Saturday, or so I think