Hot lap, sick, then another lap

Last week Wednesday I finally got the bike out on dirt singletrack.  It felt like it's been just too long!

I took the fatbike as my scalpel needed some love. I went to the Reforestation Camp, it always dries out faster than Baird's and it's a good place to run some baseline laps and get out there.  It helps that it's only 10min from my house vs. 20min for Baird's.

Anyhow, the fatbike has always been and is fun for singletrack and it was fun to get out with the tubeless setup on summer tires on the bike.  I ended up setting my fastest lap time for the green loop that I've done ever.  I was kind of surprised as I didn't think I was really going fast enough to do that.  As I got further into the ride though I knew it was a quicker lap than most I run so I tried to keep the pace up.  It was a 54:3x lap which is good but my goal I think for this year is to get <50min.  I think that's achievable but I need to really focus to do that.  It is good to have a goal.

To get the Scalpel ready, I had to remount tires with new Stan's.  I also took the chance to change out my cassette setup.  Late last year I went to 1x10 with a 32t front ring and a 11-36 in the rear.  I upgraded now so I've got a 42t bailout gear and added a 16t inbetween the 13 and 19 (I think).  The goal there is to extend the cassette range a bit.  After riding the XX1 setup all winter on the fatbike I knew I wanted more range than what I had.

So, went out yesterday for the first ride I've done in a long time on the Scalpel.  It's so different from the fully rigid fatbike and has major advantages in some areas, but at the same time does not have advantages in others.  For these local trails the full suspension is a waste, I can say I think the fastest I'd be is on a hardtail 29er with something like a 80-100mm front fork.  When riding the fatbike I feel the bumps more (they aren't brutal) but any time the trail is rough downhill with turns I feel I give up a lot of speed.  Those are the faster ones on the scalpel but it's hard to beat efficiency of a full rigid setup and the grip of the fatbike is great.

My lap yesterday was only about 25 sec slower than my lap last week.  I was not really trying to be fast at the start of the lap so it was surprising to be in that range.  I for sure am feeling the benefits of riding the fatbike all winter and also the power class.  My legs feel significantly stronger than they did last year.

First real good week of outside riding

Sunday I did a ride on the Mountain Bay Trail, out/back with about 1hr out and a bit over that back.  Ended up at about 33ish miles on the caadx.  I love the new bars.

Last night I went mountain biking at Reforestation Camp, set a new PR for the green loop on the yampa which I was pretty excited about.  That bike is fun but it beats me up a lot.  I've gotta get the Scalpel all tuned up and ready to go for a bit more speed/comfort.  It looks like my work over winter has paid off a lot.

New bars for the caadx and Gravel River Road Ride Report

First off, I have been wanting to try some different bars on my caadx.  It's not that the ones on there are a problem, it's just they're the stock ones, don't seem to be exactly what I want, and I never use the drops because of the position they put me in.  I am still new to a road bike and not really sure I'm doing any of this right anyway, but I want to be comfortable on the bike and have as many hand positions as possible.

Enter the Salsa Woodchipper - I saw these on a few bikes here and there and thought about them.  Took the plunge last week and ordered a set of the widest ones (46cm).  Got them mounted up Thursday night in anticipation of a group ride Sat (more on that in a sec).

Figuring out exactly where to mount the levers was a bit of a guessing game but I ended up OK, and this is my first time doing tape.  George had some of this tape around in red which is the color I'd wanted anyway - it's Zipp CX something and I really like it.  A bit more all weather than other tapes I've seen and nice and grippy and comfy.  After only one ride I recommend it.

I got a chance to try the setup out on the Gravel River Road Ride Saturday.  This was an informal, free ride put on by a local rider.  I think this is the 2nd year and I would say there were somewhere like 30-40 people.  Weather was a bit cool at 35ish degrees and it turned out pretty windy later in the day.  We rode out of a park and ride near Manitowoc, then north to Denmark through a few different roads, then back on the Gravel River Trail (old rail trail).  That part was the best, just cruising along.

I have never ridden in a big group ride like this before, I was surprised at how much different it was riding in a pack for overall speed and efficiency.  I do not really love it, I prefer long, solo or small groups to big groups still but it is nice to have company.  Obviously there are all different speed/capability levels in a group this size so it was pretty spread out by the end.

The ride was a blast, Eric did an awesome job of setting it up and keeping it low key, friendly.  I will look to do this type of ride again in the future for sure.  Idealy it'll be gravel though for most of it.  People say I should try to do the Bear 100 as it's kind of like that but all gravel and nice and low key.  I'm going to have to see if I can stretch family schedules to allow for that.

I was pretty happy with the bars on their maiden voyage.  I was able to use more different hand positions, still prefering to be on the hoods mostly, but the drop portion of the bars are way more usable for me and much more comfortable.  I'd worked on the truck Friday and had bruised my palms a bit (long story), so my hands were hurting by the end of the ride but not terrible.  I think the combo of extra hand positions and new bar tape helped a lot.

Hoping to get out on singletrack soon...

New Kit!

Looking rad!

Training mode

Now I'm onto the time with no more power class to keep me in line.  I've got a schedule of races set this year that I need to keep in shape for, we'll see how much my training can do.  I am thinking that 3-4x a week will be a good solid goal, adding on for any commuting I can do (hey, at least it's some base miles :) )

I'm now registered for:
Mt. Borah Epic
Red Earth Classic
Iceman Cometh

Planning on the Ore 2 Shore but I need to register, and probably have room for a few other rides here.

I'm looking now for some gravel 40-60mi rides this spring to do on the cx bike for fun.  Maybe Cheesehead Roubaix or some others?

Fat Bike Birkie Report

Again I'm a bit delinquent for writing any sort of recap of the race I did, this time though I'm less than a week behind.  It's been busy this week with a work trip to Chicago for some training.

The birkie was awesome.  I knew from the day I got my fatbike, or even before I'd gotten my fatbike that I was 100% for sure doing this race, no matter what it took.  I've skiied the birkie a couple times and I wanted to get back on the trail.  For the people reading this, the race is similar but not 100% the same.  The long race (47k) races out to OO on the Birkie trail then turns around and heads back to Telemark on the Birkie Classic Trail.  The first thing you figure out is how relentless the hills are, it was very fun and very tough.

I have been training pretty hard with my power class but not been able to do a ton of other riding overall, so I knew I could push hard but was not expecting anything great.  I was hoping for <3hrs but thought if I had a "good" race I could do 2:45 or less based on how other things have gone.

I lined up and started further up in the start grid than I would've in the past, I was towards the back of the "going for it" grid which was supposed to be 2:15-2:45.  Figured I'd want to be up there to avoid getting stuck behind people aiming for slower times.  I think where I lined up ended up being pretty good though I did not finish in <2:45.

The race was a blur of down one hill then up the next.  Shift up 5 gears to get momentum down then try to hammer up the next hill, all while trying to not blow up.  I so far this year have decided that while I'll use HR for training I am not going to pay attention to it while racing and just go on "feel".  I don't want to artificially slow down because of a HR number flashing at me on the gps.  I do still wear it because I like seeing what zones I was able to maintain and for how long.

I started out feeling pretty good, was doing gels and water here and there.  I was not feeling incredibly strong though.  About halfway through the race I ended up pacing fairly well with Ross from my team, that was fun to ride with him as I don't think we've ever ridden together before.

Race went fine, just pushing, eating gel, drinking water, but I ended up cramping pretty badly.  Looking back I don't think I was getting enough hydration during the race.  Going up steep prolonged hills was getting very painful and when I finally got off to walk up one about 5mi from the finish my left leg locked up.  I got back on the bike at the top but the next couple miles were really bad until the cramps went away.  From there I just tried to stay on the bike at high cadence, the cramps went away but I was not able to push any harder as the cramps returned then.

Course wise I think next year I could easily run a 4" tire for less rotating weight, it was nice and firm and even with warm conditions it was not bad.  I just got in the rut and rode out as much as I could there as the track was nicely packed down and faster than if you were out of the rut.

Finish wise, I got in at 2:55, less than my goal but not as good as I'd really hoped I could do.  I know there is some good room to improve for next year.  It was fun to see/hang with the Broken Spoke guys before/after a bit but I headed home just about immediately so I could make it in time to see the kids before bed (I did make it).

Forgot to do my race report - 906 Polar Roll, Marquette, MI, 2/21/15

I've just realized today I didn't do an update about the race.  Forgot totally.

It was a blast, mostly.  I got into Marquette lateish on Friday, but in time to pick up my packet.  I'd given up beer for the week of the race so I didn't grab a beer at Blackrocks that night.  It was hopping though.  I drove over to my hotel - it was in Ishpeming so I was close to the race start.  It was at the Wonderlands Inn.  Not a fancy place but cheap and clean, got the job done.  Just a quick review, it's the kind of place you can go for a mtb race or whatever, like one step up from a tent at a state park, but probably not where I'd take the wife/kids.

Anyhow, on to race day.  Start was at 10am so there was plenty of time to relax in the morning and get set.  I was one of just under 100 people doing the long race, I think just under 200 did the short.  I got set at Ishpeming High School and settled in to my pre-race stuff.  I don't have this all dialed in yet for fatbike races, but it worked out.  What I really struggle with is what to wear (like a girl) and also what to bring to eat/drink.  Also tire pressures is a struggle for me with my lack of experience on the fatty.

I settled in on what I'd call "lighter" gear as I figured I'd be pushing and the temps were in the high teens to low 20's for most of the race.  I used my frame bag and had spare tube/tools/pump and a couple snacks, along with my water bottle.  The bag worked flawlessly.

Race started - we were off following the Red Bull truck to the trail.  Instantly I could tell I had too much pressure but I tried to fight through.  Ended up stopping about 2mi in to drop pressure, then again a few miles later.  I ended up riding with that amount of pressure the whole race until almost the finish.  More on that later, but my starting point was 7psi front and 8psi rear.  I think I ended much lower, like 5 or less front and 5-6 rear. 

The trails were made up of two singletrack loops separated by some snowmobile trail (open for sleds).  The first section of singletrack was the one by Ishpeming, I think called the SBT.  It was fantastic, in pretty good shape overall.  I loved the trails, really fun, groomed well, and except for the parts that I could tell were not the "normal" trail.  People complained about the hills but I did not find them to be that bad.

The snowmobile trail (Heritage Trail I think) inbetween the two singletrack sections was fine - nothing really notable but still very gorgeous and a good ride.  It was nice to get some speed in after the slower singletrack.

The second set of singletrack (the SBR) was pretty bad.  The long course here overlapped with where the short course had already run so the trails were incredibly chewed up and soft.  Anywhere there was an uphill, people had walked and that made it nearly impossible to keep pedaling.  The majority of this loop was spent trying to maintain the bike in a 6" wide rut with 5" wide tires that had in general too much pressure to ride right.  I didn't go lower as I didnt feel it would help much.

The culmination of crappy trail conditions was the section coming down near the last aid station, including the part along the ski hill.  It was just so damn soft and with 20+ miles of fatigue it was very hard to stay on the bike with any sort of speed/grace.  I made it through but much slower than I'd wanted to.  The last section into town was easy and welcome considering the crap I'd been through.  The "technical" line they set up was much too easy, I would've loved to see some real difficulty there.

I ended up finishing the course in about 4:45.  I was bummed as I'd saved some energy for the second singletrack section so I could push but ended up not being able to use it due to the snow conditions.  I felt good when I could pedal, the power class must be helping because hills were not so bad as I thought they would be.  I was consistently reeling people in in the parts where I could pedal, I was only passed by one guy after a crash once we settled in to the race, other than that I was passing people.

Looking forward to the Fatbike Birkie this weekend, I have a few learnings.  I'm going to go much lighter on the bike/gear and rely on aid stations a bit heavier.  I will still carry a tube/tools/air and water, but other than that that will be in.  I'm not expecting to finish first or anything but would like to continue to work my way up towards the earlier parts of the pack.  Id say I like to finish in the top 1/3rd of the finishers, haven't really settled that yet though.  I plan on grinding it out and really pushing hard, I want to give it all and see how well I can do.