6 hour Enduro

“6 hours in the Stix in Cranbrook your looking at around 68 miles, 8700ft of climbing, that’s about 13km / 1100ft per lap (Strava).”

#XTC Hardtail setup with 1×10, I was going to find out this probably too hard a gearing for 12 and 24 hour races for this flyweight but ideal for 6 hours.

Running 36T 1x with 10 speed, made me realise how great life be with the 11th speed and just how hard single speeders roll – respect.

The hardtail setup & race route demanded effort to move around a course of short punchy stuff and somewhat bumpy flats, embracing the grind from the start I stood up and worked putting myself at the tail of the first group which I knew contained a few 40+ category guys.

“At this race organisers wrote our ages on our legs so you could figure who your racing.”

Lap1 I passed several front group riders with flats, I slowed down taking note of sharps on course and figured lines.

Lap3 half pee stop I watched 2 positions ride by, dang-it I probably drank half a bottle too much at prep, this race is technical, theres no making mistakes or stopping.

So, when your stopped for a pee, 2 guys pass racing each other, you put your business away within 10 seconds, start chasing, take a couple laps to catch, how fast were they going when they passed?  Answer: I have no f#$%^en clue but it made me push and came within 3 minutes of 2nd place and finished within 2 minutes of the time cut.

Making the time cut by minutes reminds me just how critical seconds are even over the course of 6 hours, if I stopped to feed each lap, had a flat or crash I probably wouldn’t have made the 8 lap club, you can’t even afford to stop for a pee.

A major efficiency I have is in my pit, my Wife has been feeding me at races for 10 years and she made it happen again. Its a sight to see her in the feedzone with the 3 kids, pro bottle feed, food when I need it, lap time, split to rider and big cheer at the end, awesome.

With a big pasta meal the night before, I raced light starting the day with a light french toast breakfast, coffee, dose of @sportmulti, then over 6.5 hours of moving time consumed four 28oz bottles of @skratchlabs, 3 pkts of @honeystinger jubes, lost 2lbs and felt great.

 

Thanks to my sponsors for support during a slow 2015, the beat goes on, life, family, carpentry and rolling wheels – big things are around the corner.

                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Out in weather

Its been raining hard, waves of storms have been passing through the region for the past day and there’s a 500km bike race through some of the most remote parts of the Kootenay’s going on.

Hoping to see a few of my buddies pass through I watched their SPOT for the day and timed my ride to reach a crux to shout at them.  Figuring I had time for they been travelling in the hurt locker for 12 hours I didn’t get close to the crux and #Fernie hard man #sergechiasson blast pass me looking fresh and very confident.

 

Learning of the re-route using Highway #3, I thought this a bit dangerous so I followed.  It was windy, at times raining horizontal, hard to see, busy with traffic and just not fun.

 

So, now what, I’ve checked out the race, seen the leader, now in the saddle in the rain couple hours more than expected, nightfall is dropping, I’m stopped trail side putting my hood on, I have 18% IPhone battery no cell service, the wife was expecting me awhile ago, I have 1hour of NiteRider Lumina 350 light, 1 bag of GU Chomps left, a bottle of SkratchLabs, about 2 bit hours away from home via a mountain pass with about a 1 hour climb over pass in these conditions.

At this point all the stats didn’t look too good, mainly not having enough light.

On this evening in the rain I had to run the Lumina on full beam to see, I couldn’t chance a flat on the #RevoltCX now, I was only running 40psi and these gravel roads are full of show stopper potholes and sharp rocks.

 

 

On this day I ventured out minimal on all counts running everything to its limit and the items that made the day was my #TeamSugoi ICON Jacket keeping me dry on top and @SugoiApparel RSE Short / RPM-X Waterproof Short / Knee warmers, @Swiftwick Twelves socks clothing the drive train pistons.

Out in weather there were a couple key details that kept me dry when getting hit all sides with water.  At the end of the day under rain for 5 hours my base bike shorts were dry, this I attribute to not only the waterproof in RPM-X Waterproof outer short but the knee length of the short and its slight taper.  The length of the short acted like a drip edge taking water dumped from jacket running it off the knees, the taper stopped water back spray from wheels.

The Icon Jacket with built in rear flap, cinch able hood, 4 chest vent options, 2 side pockets, 1 rear zip back pocket and padded collar is my hero, this jacket kept me dry, wind protected, and has a fit that allows good movement.

As it doesn’t take much for me to sweat I always find it a challenge to vent enough to dry sweat when jacketed up all day, I think the vent arrangement of the Icon promotes air flow in the right spots for on this ride I worked consistent getting a good suffer score of 255 generating good heat and was able to manage dampness.

The day ended with a good climb in the rain which meant descending damp with sweat, again the Icon is my hero, zipped up to the chin the padded collar sealed off the neck, the rear flap and waist cinched off my lowers for a complete seal creating a warm environment to keep working.

And keep working indeed I did, from here I was thinking I had enough time and light to get over the pass onto a descent I know and could afford to run out of light and roll in the dark home.  Climbing for 45min the pass felt near, grinding straight up to I thought familiar landing the road disappeared, W.T.F this is a primary FSR, in the twilight it looks like the road needs to be rebuilt, now what, I’ve pretty much burnt my light.  Confused for moments, the fact was there was no getting home this way and its double back 10 mile to cell service, call the Wife for a pickup then double back another 10 mile to the pickup point.  With urgency in my step I zipped up for a wet descent, switched the Lumina350 to medium, flicked focus to 110% and pinned it for I was now racing my IPhone battery, I need atleast 4% battery to get a call out.

So the day ends at 10.45pm with a pickup from Wife and 3 sleeping kids, so much for a quick couple hours to see some racers cruise by in the rain.

Strava

 

Whats in that bag doc …

2012, end of a TransRockies Day.1  I found myself in hospital hooked up to a bag.  Within 15 minutes I changed my mind from quitting the TR to – okay I’m good, lets eat, get to the river, soak and prep the bike for tomorrow.

 

I believe that bag is a bag of Hartmanns, I was given 1 bag and what a transformation, what an elated feeling, whats in that bag doc can I order one for tomorrow afternoon.

Compound Sodium Lactate (Hartmann’s) will be given to you by your doctor or specially trained nurse by infusion or drip into the vein. This allows the Compound Sodium Lactate (Hartmann’s) to reach the body quickly, where it will treat dehydration and replace mineral salts.

What Compound Sodium Lactate contains

• 1000 ml of the solution contain Sodium chloride 6.00 g,
• Sodium lactate solution (50% w/w) 6.24 g (equivalent to sodium lactate, 3.12 g)
• Potassium chloride 0.40 g
• Calcium chloride dihydrate 0.27 g

Hey doc, thats it, a huge dose of sodium.  Taking the contents of this solution, playing with loose numbers and applying it against a rough in the saddle time for Day.1,  I arrived at a very approximate sodium requirement per hour, this did not jive with what I was consuming (an easier more accurate method is to get a sweat test done).

I have learn’t alot from this hospital visit from a few years back and if you want more in depth information on the same subject of sodium read Darryl Griffiths book “Sweat, Think, Go Faster”.  This book will probably contest what most have been taught or have read, give it a try you will probably redefine yourself and within the same season you read the book instead of taking years of trial and error.

My 2014 Strava

My 2014 Storify

2014 was a good year, worked hard, learnt new tricks, upped my game, still motivated.

….

Thanks for your continued support:

Swiftwick

FTMBrand

Straight-Line

Crankbrothers

Elk Valley Family Chiropractic

Sugoi

Giant Bicycles

Maxxis

Rudy Project

Casa de la mongkeys

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Here’s my best of  2014 Storify

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At the point of cracking

“When you’re in the middle of a race and working hard it can be difficult to tell if the bargaining means that you are appropriately adjusting your goal or if it means that you are backing off because you’ve cracked” (Carrie Cheadle)

 

Carrie Cheadle’s snippet below flashed me back to bargaining at the last 24 hour race, when accumulatively things got tough, the mental negotiations voiced like someone was talking right beside me and at the point of cracking this back and forth battle distracted me on the bike.   When your at the hour where its neither night nor morning, sleep deprived, still battling on the bike, at your threshold of pain, gas tank empty, I wonder if there’s a point where you’ve cracked already but just working through it.

 

When you’re pushing yourself to the limit one of the natural things that happens for many athletes is that you start bargaining with yourself. When you’re in the middle of a race and working hard it can be difficult to tell if the bargaining means that you are appropriately adjusting your goal or if it means that you are backing off because you’ve cracked. It reminds me of a quote by General George S. Patton who also happened to be an Olympic Pentathlete, “Now if you are going to win the battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up.” Sometimes if you can just wait long enough to get through that moment when you want to stop, it can be enough to keep you going. This would have to be a strategy that you’ve practiced and that you’ve committed to before your race. It can be waiting until the next marker and taking a deep breath, it can be singing through a song, it can be visualizing your favorite scene from your favorite comedy in detail … anything to get you to hold on for a moment instead of immediately feeding into the desire to stop. The moment when you start to crack, if you can commit to doing something else first, and then deciding if you can keep going, sometimes it can get you through that moment– or prolong it just a bit.

Pain cave around 6am

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Doing something else to get through a rough patch in shorter races is one thing, having to revisit this every hour or lap for 24 hours can be more complicated.  When dealing with discomfort over ultra distance pain seems to reach a max where it hurts no more no less, but its the mental drain of the whole situation that seems to be the factor influencing the decision to stop to recharge or stop to quit.

Canmore 24hr in July I had bad feet from lap4, a bit early to be figuring just how your going to finish a race, slightly stressed it took a good few laps to figure a plan and get the mind back in control.  The body is tough but its as strong as the mind makes it, without the mental direction the body is like a 4 year old that wants to stop at the slightest inconvenience.  At this point I find myself splitting into 2 persons, the 44 year old that wants to win and the 4 year old that’s actually riding and wanting to stop.

Follow a 24solo guy in all sorts of trouble you could observe a neurotic individual that one might think has lost his shit, talking to oneself, moving awkwardly, communicably unresponsive and if observed closely you might see what it looks like when a person is battling itself.

So what do you do with a 4 year old ?  From parental experience you give it small digestible tasks to get through at a time, so I set out on a kai-zen approach building laps increments at a time.  Mentally taking over what your doing, strategising where to coast on course, where to work, figuring alternative lines and where to grab pain relief stamps authority over the situation, keeping the mind engaged and in control directing the body to move and how.  Before long this focus of minimizing damage, managing discomfort, shifting positions, adjusting movements, telling yourself to shutup at the same marker on course become routine and part of the norm.

Reaching this point a refocus on racing is a reinforcement that the mind is running the show, it can bring you back to life, back in the chase and arm you with a new lease of strength, urgency and determination.  This is the beauty of 24hr racing, you may undergo a slump for a few hours, reach rock bottom, but there is time to soul search, regroup and come out the otherside still battling like a warrior.

24hr racing is not for everyone, but for an event to force one to reach a state of primal survival, to persevere and overcome challenge is synonymous to life and wish everyone could experience this.

 

Cracking is an option if you let it happen, its not compulsory, our bodies are tough but our minds are tougher.

“Your tougher than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can.” – Ken Chlouber, Leadville 100 Race Director

 

Canmore Twenty Four Hour

“Suffering is a state before our purification and wisdom is healed pain” – I’m hoping I will be in receivership of these for this twofour was all about enduring discomfort.

 

Results

The dismount and walk through the transition was as painful as descending, I tried to hide it

40+ category 3rd place, 17 laps, 300km, 26,000ft gain, 2 crashes, 1 mechanical, 1 failed light battery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big thanks to:

Straightline

Swiftwick

Maxxis

Elk Valley Chiro

FTM Nutrition

Sugoi

Crankbrothers

Rudy Project

Giant Bicycles

for the support, this was a breakthrough race for me accomplishing a couple key things I haven’t been able to do in the past and I`m stoked.

 

Breakdown

Prep for a midday start began around 7am munching a light breakfast over a couple hours, 3 Sportmulti, 2 SkratchLab SDM.

Eating solids from the beginning the staple lap food was 1/4 banana & dumpling and over the course of the race consumed 11 bottles Roctane, 4 bottles SkratchLabs SDM, 4 bags of Chomps,  3 slices pizza, 1 can coke, 1 coffee and a saving grace of 800mg or something of sodium in 1 cup chicken broth and a packet of ichiban noodles over the midnight hours.

Giant XTC Hardtail and El Cabus

The day started as planned with laps in the 1:10:00 range, but by Lap4 the feet were trouble.  The week prior I stayed off the bike to rest the feet for they were killing me then and they were killing me now.

Lap5 in 3rd creeping up on #33 in 2nd, I thought to pin it on the down to bridge the gap but went down hard.  Mechanical 1 bent shifter / no barrel adjustment, I ride the lap out holding shifter down into gear and El Cabus in the pit did some magic and its resume the chase for 3rd place rolling out a blue collar Lap6.

Lap7 was lights mounting, new Swiftwick twelves and a reset of clothes, the hunger was there and over the next 3 laps got down chickenbroth, noodles, pizza, coke and chips.

Lap 8, 9 still on the hunt for 3rd place guy, first time running the NiteRider750 I found low and medium too dim for the dusty conditions and had to run high beam, burning this in 1 lap I switched to L&M light to have the battery quit 10 minutes into the lap, switched on the backup NR Lumina 350 and had a pretty weirdly handlebar lit darkish lap.  With all the regular food consumption in these laps the stomach was slightly upset and calling for Roctane, for this was the only drink that was settling the tummy which was perfect.

Lap 10 we roll into 2nd place, Bartlet (Cafe) is 1hour up the road but Franks (Pedalhead) is close behind, again I try to loosen up on the downhill and go down hard. Coming into pit shaking off crash 2 same right side with a clothes change, some food, its back out with some urgency in my manner cause I can smell the Franks diesel engine.

 

 

Lap 11, 12 Bartlet is gone, still holding off the Franks diesel engine, the tummy is growling, the couple crashes are taking their toll and my feet – forget about it !

Lap 13 the Franks diesel cruises by, taking his wheel we enter the pit, this aint road racing folks I attacked through the feed zone to get my food up the road, from there I threw down what I could at 5am in the morning reaching the first downhill stretch, pinning it good hitting the lines floating the roots, I thought for sure I could stay away this lap.  Reaching my crux climb that was pushing all my pain buttons, I hear an all familiar hub and turn to see Franks, !@#$ dang, a moment battle two abreast in a single lane, Franks passes and drops me on the climb.

Now the plan for Lap 14-17 its finish strong with 1:30:00 laps to fit within the cutoff and suck up the pain shooting around my body.  Bartlet’s pit gave me a coffee, my Wife massaged my feet for circulation and we finished the last 4 laps in the pain cave, with 2 laps in the rain to make things complete.

 

A great day racing made possible by my Wife and El Cabus in the formula 1 pit. And to Bartlet (Cafe), Franks (Pedalhead) that was fun boys thanks.

 

 

 

Season opener Salty Dog – 16th May

Season opener and after a long winter this man and his dog mission was a much needed cabin fever breaker.

 

Salty dog is a 3 day mission to relax, drink coffee, get some miles in, switch into race mode for a day then take a long drive home.

This time round its rain for the first 20 hours, weather clearing to blue skies for a fun slick practice ride on Saturday, to downpour overnight clearing to a chilly blue sky race morning.

 

Mud made everything technical on this weekend and with a good ride Saturday I was confident in how the @Maxxis #IKONs were grabbing Salmon Arm mud and launched into race day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making an earlier move stick during Lap1 I found myself overclocking a bit of speed on the down.  Slipping off the muddy line squaring off with a tree, I avoided the hunk of wood but not the ground, on track for a few fast 40min laps turned to a broken front brake and a tentative Lap2, Lap3.

Straight to the @GiantBicycles tent, Shane had my lever zipped, taped and usable, I wasn’t feeling any pain at the time, ate and continued.

The right time to make a move would have been Lap3 when the mud ruts were flattened and the trail was starting to dry out.

With a bit of pep taken out of my kick, Lap4, Lap5 I settled into my blue collar 24hr pace, now the track was drying out, descending speed was increasing and Lap6 my crash side arm was having trouble holding on.

With all things considered, 7 Laps 11th place was to be this years result, there was time for an 8th but the mind&body was saying Seven is good, the fueling plan went perfect, pace was consistent, my @GiantBicycles #XTC was lightning fast, lets get this show on the road and home.

 

If there was am impressive component to the weekend it was @RandInnovations #Momentum.  A weekend of challenging spring conditions and 6 hours of racing in wet grit, drying mud, my drivetrain ran smooth all race with just one application on the day, I don’t remember thinking or cursing my drivetrain and amazingly my chain was clean at the end of 6 hours.  @RandInnovations #Momentum is by far the best product I have ever used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up: Organ Grinder 5hour marathon race – Canmore AB.

 

 

 

 

 

Got tools for on trail troubles

If I didnt have the Topeak Super-Chain and Mini-20 tool I couldn’t have tightened my derailleur hanger.

 

The other day I found myself changing a flat on trail to find my derailleur hanger loose, on tightening the nut was spinning and had to use Super-Chain tool on one side and Mini-20 on nut side.  Carrying the one do it all tool may not be enough to get you out of trouble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Topeak

Giant composite sheds mud

Pretty amazed on how the Giant composite finish sheds mud, this was after a 2 hour ride on dirt roads that were on spring melt but looks like I just rolled down the street.