Nervous before the race

Monday's power class went well - no flats!  It was a good hard workout which was nice.

I've not ridden this week (per normal scheduling conflicts), I have been getting ready for the race this weekend.  I was pretty nervous yesterday but seem to be better now that I've packed a bit and have gear lined up.  Normal to be nervous for the race a few days before.  I have everything all packed and set now, weather is looking like it'll be good (15-18 and maybe some snow showers).

Here's how the packing came together last night:

Water I think I will run one big bottle in my jersey pocket, easy to get at and should stay warm enough there.  There are aid stations along the way to refill at.  For spares/tools I've got 2 tubes for spares (I thought about 1 but an extra is not heavy and I'd rather be able to fix a 2nd flat/tubeless issue and finish than DNF), one Big Air co2 canister and my mini pump, multitool.

As of now I think I will wear my bar mitts.  I know my hands will be sweaty if I do that (they still sweat down to -5 in those).  I also don't like them for singletrack and the race is about half singletrack.  Game time decision there.  I'm more thinking about the length of time I'll be out there and in hour 2-3+ when fatigue is setting in I don't want to worry about cold hands. 

For food I'm doing my normal endurance stuff - powerbar prior to race, powergels during (strawberry banana), water.  I will have a honey stinger waffle or two with me and I think I will bring a small bag of beef jerkey with me in case i want something more solid (that's a new one).  I don't think I could stomach that in the hot summer but it really sounds good when it's cold out.

Exploring Duck Creek

 So yesterday's ride was kind of what I love about the fatbike.  I did Disney on Ice with Aly in the afternoon then snuck out for a quick ride.  Quick being 2hrs.  Kris is awesome and watch the kids so I could go not after dark. 

Friends have been talking about Duck Creek for a while, it's about 3mi from my house so I just hopped on the bike and rode there.  It was cool.  Great spot to do training and really a lot less flat/boring then I thought. Lots of curves in the river, lots to look at, great wind cover, generally snowmobile trails to follow, and some little jumps up/down the banks to play on too.  I had a good time but really didn't explore a crazy amount of it.  I wanted to ride from FF to Overland but came up a bit short of Overland Rd.  Cole says west of Overland is even better so we'll see.  I may load the bike up and drive there next time so I can maximize time on the river (it's probably 5mi away?).  Maybe not though, it's fun to ride the roads too on this thing, it's just fun all over.

I'm excited for my race Saturday but at the same time not excited - 35mi on a fatbike could be as easy as 35mi on a mtb or could be absolute hell depending on weather. For example, I averaged about 7-8mph on the river yesterday on mostly snowmobile tracks, but I can ride the same if not slightly faster on singletrack here in town. On packed trails (non-singletrack) I could anticipate some averages up to 13-15mph. We'll see. I've been training a bit anyway and feel stronger than I did last year - less overall endurance but more power I think.

The other thing I have a bad feeling about for no good reason is my tubeless setup. I'm really hoping it holds up for the race, it's been good so far but I have not pushed it at race pace or that distance yet.

One thing I am certain of - if I keep this up it's going to be very fast come skinny tire mtb season. I'm already super excited to get out on the Scalpel and I'm probably about 2 months away. I think I will ride with the rear lockout engaged a lot this year.

On a semi-related note my ability to wheelie is much improved.

How the heck...

I have zero clue how, but I got not one, but two flats on the trainer at power class this week.  Super disappointing to not be able to do the whole routine.  I only did about 1/3-1/2 of it.

Sucked, I really look forward to the class and the feeling of utter exhaustion I get afterwards - I was feeling extremely good on the bike and just got the wind out of my sails.  Suckage.

Another ride at Baird

Did 3hrs today at Baird.  Prepping for the 906 Polar Roll in Marquette in 2 weeks.  I needed to get out and really ride for a while, reasonably hard without stopping much.  I did that pretty well.  I figured doing singletrack for 3hrs will be better training than just riding on something flat - rail trail, river, etc.

Trails were in great shape, we could definitely use more snow but they are good.  It is nice to have the studs (I've mentioned that before) and the bike handles really well.  I was happy to get 25mi in.  The race coming up is 35 miles but I'm not too worried about that, in reading the course description where there is some singletrack (maybe half?) there is enough snowmobile trail/road that the miles on average should be doable.  Not looking to break any records but looking forward to pushing hard.

If you're gonna shoot with the gopro, aim it right!

I got out for a fantastic ride on Saturday at Baird.  Two full laps, it was great and the trails were in great shape.  Snow everywhere but nice and grippy for the most part.  The dillingers helped a lot and I'm very glad I got the studded version.

I shot the first lap with the gopro, I figured why not use it.  Used the chest harness, but when I went to watch it last night I saw I had it aimed too low.  It is a great view of the trail 5' in front of the bike but too much too close and not enough to see the upcoming trail, making it unwatchable.  Guess I'll just have to do it again sometime!