Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Merry Christmas!
As for the training, it is going pretty well. Since it has been VERY cold out, and I am still trying to completely get use to it, I have been splitting up my workouts. I start out the day with 20 miles on the trainer, then go outside for the final 25-30 miles. This has worked well so far, and after the holiday season I will move outside even more. On a bright note, on Sunday about 30 people met out at camp Alexander for a nice warm trail ride. For some reason that day the temperatures jumped up to around 50 degrees. I was a great time playing around in the warm sun. I just hope that we get a few more of these in the near future.
On a final note, I would like to wish everybody Merry Christmas. Have a Blessed time, and remember the less fortunate. Take the time to be a blessing to someone. Be safe, and I will see you all on the other side!
Peace Out!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Yea, I am still here
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Back in the saddle!
This past weekend was a race at Perry lake. One of my favorite trails in Kansas. Four days before the race, I went up their to preride the course, and to just enjoy spending some time on some quality single track. It was a blast! I got there about 11:30am, and met Lelan There! He was just pulling in from New York. We had a hot, but great time riding a few laps and catching up.
On Sunday the two of us rode up there together to meet up with a bunch of other emporians. We saw, Tom Hayden, Jed Sampsel, Ann Maree Garett, Randy Smith, Garret Seacat and teammates Dusti Saposi and Aarone Elwell. It was great to hang out with everybody for the day.As for the Race, it went pretty well. I was able to hang with the fast group for most of the first lap, but the pace was a little high for me to hold for the entire race, so I backed it off a little and hoped that someone would blow up. but no suck luck. These traditional cross country races are pretty much a suffer fest.
In the end I finished fourth, and was content with that. Their was quite a strong field that day, and the first three finishers were just plain fasted than I was. In the end Doug Long (National Champion just a couple of years ago) won. Man is he fast for our age!
Well check back soon. The second half of the season is just getting started, and I am working on getting a little fasted. Plus, their are some really good endurance races still to come. Until next time.
Peace Out!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Got Nothin Here?
My big July race, and the race of the season, I was unable to get into. I was really looking forward to getting into the Firecracker 50 again this year, on the 4th of July, in Breckenridge. The problem was, they opened registration early this year, and when I went to go check on it, it had already been filled, and there were about 150 people on the waiting list. BUMMER! On the 4th, Shelley and I were sitting around Emporia wishing that we were their.
July is a slow month for racing. I have just been putting in miles, and working on a heat management plan. I have been experimenting with a few things that will be discussed later. Action will pick up in a couple of weeks, and I am really looking forward to it. Things on the agenda: Perry Lake on August 1, and of course, the next endurance event will be "Rapture In Misery"! You got to love that one. It is permanently o my calendar.
On one last note, since the firecracker 50 didn't happen, I have been looking to pick up on another pretty big endurance race some where. When it has been decided, it will be announced here first! Keep an eye out, the racing action will begin for the fall in just a couple of weeks, and the updates will become more regular. Until next time, try to stay cool, and get out and ride your bike!
Peace Out!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Bitter sweet.
Once we topped the hill, the next 5-8 miles to the east were a blast. Nothing like high speeds through the open grazing range to get the Adrenalin going. About a couple of miles into this section we saw Troy Krouse. It looked like he was fixing a flat, but later heard the "REAL" story.
Even though I wanted to stay and visit, their was a race to tend to. With a quick refill of the water, Garret, Tim and I were off to leg two. As we were rolling through Cottonwood falls, Garret told us that he was told that we were running in the top 15 riders after the first stop. AWESOME! The next few miles were a long paved climb which was uneventful leading to Elmdale. We crossed highway 50 and started heading to Diamond Springs. We were still rolling well, and I was feeling strong. After about another 5 miles Garret got unhooked and fell off of our wheel.
The rest of the run into check point two at Council Grove, Tim and I worked together and picked off a few more riders who were beginning to fall off pace due to the heat. As we pulled into the park in Council Grove it was straight up noon, and I heard that I was in fifth place at that time! Wow, this is unexpected. I had no plan to run with the leaders that day, but was feeling great. Once again I met up with Shelley and my mom. I took a little more time at this check, but did not want to stay to long.
(Changing the kit for the second half)
When rolling out of town I was feeling great. Cruising well, and excited. When I was hitting the next gravel section I realized something. I did not have my gloves! To late to turn back. In front of me a saw Salsa riders together. I was gaining on them, and was excited, because these guys are studs! No sooner than I got by them, I was cruising along, and I heard them yelling at me, but could not tell what they were saying because I had the music turned up pretty loud. After a few seconds I looked back. I saw them going down a different road? I back tracked to the last corner and their was a trailer parked in front of the turning mark! I had missed it because of the trailer, and the Salsa riders saved me! BIG thanks to them for being so cool about it.
I was rolling again. Still feeling good, I was cruising over the pretty large rollers. next I saw the sign, "Little Egypt"! As I was rolling through the sharp climbs and working hard, I was taking note that this was pretty extreme for this point into the race, but was still feeling good. Then is happened! The dreaded flat tire. It was the front, so it was not to bad. As I was in the middle of the change, the Salsa guys came by again. They asked me if I was in need of anything. I told them that I was fine, and they rolled on. Talk about some class guys. They are the type that give their team a great name. Appreciate you guys!
Once I finished, I made the next climb, and their it was. A steep downhill with really large rocks with huge ruts, which one was right down the middle! After picking myself through this section it smoothed out, and it was a quick trip into Alma. Check point three! I rolled into the last check point at straight up 3:00pm. I found my support crew again, and pulled up a seat. Tim had been their for just a couple of minutes and was toweling off to try to cool down. By this time it was starting to get really hot! Dusti and Joel told me that I was in the top ten (not exactly sure where), and leading the masters! I was just where I wanted to be!
I was still feeling good. The legs felt strong, and I had good energy! All day I had been drinking 100oz. and two water bottles of nuun between every check point, and a accel-gel every ten miles. I had also had two bagel sandwiches, a bunch of orange slices and a third of a baggie of cashews. I was in a good spot. I sat their for about 20 minutes. Had more orange slices, part of another sandwich and a couple more cold diet Pepsi's. At that point I refilled the fluids and was ready to take off when I looked up. There was Troy Krouse. He looked awful! He was bleeding from the elbow, his whole upper leg was nothing but a huge road rash, and his jersey was trashed and torn at the shoulder. I thought that he crashed on little Egypt. He looked like he was a goner. I found out later the when I saw him early in the race, he did not have a flat tire, he had just crashed. This guy had rode the last 120 miles in this condition! What a stud!
I took off at about 3:30 and started heading for Eskridge. Once out of town, the hills started up again. First they were short and pretty steep, but once out of the trees they began to get longer and longer. About 4:00 it happened again. A front flat tire. Off the bike I got and changed it up again. At this point I was down to one more spare, and that made me a little nervous. When I got back on the bike, I started back up and rode for a couple of more miles and then the wheels began to fall off of the wagon. At mile 150, out of no where, it hit me. I could not cool down! I was seriously over heating. Back in the mid 90's I was doing another long gravel race, and experienced a heat stroke. Ever since then I have not been able to handle the extreme heat. At mile 150 I felt something bad coming on. I was looking for the closest tree, but their was not one to be found. I rode a little further and found a single tree by the side of the rode in the middle of no where. I pulled up under it and just stood there.
I layed my head on my handlebars, and closed my eyes. My head was spinning, and I could not cool down. After about 15 or so minutes I heard something and looked back. It was Tim! It was so good to see him. We stood under the tree for about 5 minutes saying how it might not have been such a good idea to have left the last check point. Then he left. I watched him turn the corner, and begin to head up this REALLY LONG hill heading south, and their was not a tree to be seen on it. After he got about a quarter the way up it I decided that it would be best to keep moving and try to make it to Eskridge so I could cool down at the store there.
I pressed on. Up the big hill, and down. From their it was nothing but a series of climbs, and the heat was really cooking me. At somewhere about mile 156-157 I was in trouble. At the top of the hill their was a couple of trees. I got to them. At that point I dropped the bike at the side of the road, Took off my helmet, gloves, camelback, shoes and socks. I sat their in the middle of the road for at least an hour. I was soooo overheated. I was ready to throw up, I was really dizzy. and disoriented. After an hour, I was passed by a number of riders, and I was not able to cool down at all. I knew that I was in trouble. I needed to get up, and get into Eskridge.
I rolled really slow for a couple of miles, and turned a corner. I say a silver SUV! As I approached, at the back I saw Tim in a chair, and looking bad. I pulled over. IT was Scott O'Mara and his wife! They were trying to cool him down. I guess he was also sitting on the side of the rode under a tree, and he had thrown up three times and could not eat or drink anything. He has said that he thought that I had dropped out. I told him, no, but I was now! I sat down on the back of Scott's car. They gave me a bunch of cold Gatorade and water and began to cool me also with ice water. Just then my cell phone went off, and it was a facebook update. It said that Mike marchand, last years winner, had dropped out at Eskridge. He said that his legs just quit, and that "you can only do what you can"! That was the sign from God that told me that it was time to pull the plug! That was mile 160.
At that time it was time to make "The call". All the training, plans, and expectations were about to end. This is the hardest call a person can make. I first tried to call Shelley. It took me about 5-10 minutes to try to figure out how to open the phonebook of my phone to call her. That is how cooked my brain was. Then I called Jim. It was official. DNF! Scott loaded me into the SUV and took me into Eskridge to wait for Shelley. The town was like a war zone. Carnage everywhere!
Through my years of Dirty Kanza experience I have learned some important life lessons. First, all of the preparation and planing you do is all good and well. It teaches you discipline, and a person is capable to achieve great things in life. You can come into the something more than ready to take on the world, but their are some things that are just out of your control. I have also learned that was I have gotten older, that a person needs to exercise wisdom in making important decision. Don't just blindly forge forward. As a warrior, it is important to be able to clearly decide when it is OK to forge on, and when you need to cut your losses and live to fight another day.
This was a very frustrating thing for me to go through mentally. At the end of the day, my legs felt strong, I had plenty of energy to finish, but the heat did me in. It became a health issue. I have been asked if I would do it again? The answer........heck yea! You cannot keep me from the starting line next year! I have unfinished business to take care of!
Now for the final "UP" for the weekend. The next morning I was feeling physically well, but was upset that I did not finish the race this year. It is something that has only happened to me twice in my racing career. My wife Shelley told my to just relax that day! Go over to the hotel and have a nice visit with my mother. She had traveled all the way from Colorado to see me, and I had spent the entire day before on the bike. I knew that she was right.
She told me to check back with her around 1:00, and maybe we all could have a late lunch and relax. I agreed. Around 1:00 my mother told me that she would like to see the house that our oldest daughter had recently bought, so we left their room. As we approached, we got a call from Shelley telling us that we should come and have lunch.
As we approached our house, I saw that their were a lot of cars. I started looking at them, and started to recognize the cars. We turned the corner, and my back yard was filled with people. Shelley had planned a surprise birthday party for me, for my 50th birthday!
Through this all I have come to realize that I am truly a blessed man. I have a job that I love. God has given me this opportunity to go all over the country and do something that I am passionate about....riding my bike, and my life is fill with a lot of people that truly care about me. What else can a old man from Kansas ask for.
Well, this has been an EPIC post, and I will let you go for today. I hope that everyone has the chance to get out these up coming weeks and ride your bikes, and enjoy the beautiful summer. Until next time.
Peace Out!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Nothing....but a lot of stuff.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Fat Tire Festival
Below is a link to a really cool video that one of the riders shot with his helmet cam in the race! Check it out. http://vimeo.com/11449926
As usual, the course was awesome. It is by far, the best trail system within a days drive from home, and for this reason along it is worthy of the trip. Also, because of the fact that the Chamber's family was putting on the race, you knew that it would be a quality event, and would be stacked with many of the best riders from the region.
This was my first traditional cross country race of the year. I like to concentrate mostly on the endurance races, because I like the pace much better. As I get older, the slightly slower pace of the endurance races are much more comfortable. The traditional races are at such HIGH intensity, it is difficult for me to get it up that high for any period of time, and besides that, it inflicts a great amount of pain on the human body.
To make a long story short, even though it was the usual trip to the pain cave, it was a blast for the day! The weather, perfect. The course, challenging, fun and perfect. How did the team do? As expected, Aaron won the overall, and the rest of the team finished high in their respective divisions. As for me, even though I lost contact with the fast group I finished 2nd in my division.This weekend is mothers day, so I will not be racing in St. Joe, but hanging out with the family! The month of May looks a bit thin as far as racing goes, so it is looking like the Dirty Kanza might be next on the schedule. Nothing like a 200 miler! It looks like I need to be putting a LOT of miles in on the cross bike in the next few weeks. I think that is going to be the bike of choice for this particular event. Well, that is it for now. Keep checking back for the newest 411!
Peace Out!