I have some cracking rides, all around the 90min mark but at a good hard pace.
I scored a ticket to the Highland Fling and currently entered for the 100km. I've only got about 16 days to get into gear. So I need lots of big ring hills, high cadence sessions and more hills. The race has 2300m of climbing, ouch. I'll do a trail race about a week before to see how close I am and may drop it back to 50km depending on how suicidal I'm feeling.
I set out and completed a 20km time trial course this afternoon and finished it in 1:09mins. This will be my benchmark for a maximum effort session. At the end of the ride my hips were sore and I had a little lower back pain. I'm guessing because I haven't done many rides as hard as that over the last 2 months or so.
TLC Cycles have tuned my brakes to near perfection, new pads and a bleed and my levers are back out to where I like them. That is with minimal free-play, I like to be able to just tap the brake sometimes without going into a full skid or front wheel wash out, can be the difference between staying on line or getting sent into the bush. My descents felt good cause I could easily tuned the bike and speed on the way down.
I'm doing a 55km ride tomorrow morning. Its mainly tarmac and firetrail so 2:30mins is probably a good goal.
Until next post.
Keep your bike tuned up :-)
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
I'm back in the game
I've had a little break from training, been doing the odd ride but nothing serious. So it's time to get back into it.
Daylight saving has arrived and so have the regular afternoon rides. I'm going to start doing some short and sweet entries about individual riding sessions and see if I can get some progress on the board.
Next ride booked in for tomorrow.
Here's a little photo of my son Callum. When he is on my shoulders he just moulds around the back of my head, I couldn't resist.
RIP Marco Simoncelli - Super Sic #58
Daylight saving has arrived and so have the regular afternoon rides. I'm going to start doing some short and sweet entries about individual riding sessions and see if I can get some progress on the board.
Next ride booked in for tomorrow.
Here's a little photo of my son Callum. When he is on my shoulders he just moulds around the back of my head, I couldn't resist.
RIP Marco Simoncelli - Super Sic #58
Monday, 25 July 2011
Bushman Blow - CORC Rd 3.3 Stromlo West
I was excited to go to work today, not because I’m a professional windsurfer living in Maui, or a professional skier on training camp in Aspen. I was excited about coffee and because the weekend just gone was so full of action packed racing I just wanted to sit down at my desk and reflect on how good it is to be Aussie.
The racing kicked off on Saturday afternoon when we all got in on the action with the CORC Rd 3.3 race. Then after a home cooked cassoulet, we watched Mark Webber get pole at the German Grand Prix, he went on to get 3rd in the race. A quick flick to SBS had us back onto the Tour de France, we watched Cadel Evans smash the time trial (and the haters) to take him to the pinnacle of his career. Then it was MotoGP in the USA, qualifying on Sunday morning and Casey Stoner started from 2nd and went on to win.
CADEL, Aussie! WEBBER, Aussie! STONER, Aussie! Good little Aussies racing in Canberra, OI! OI! OI!
Race Preparation
Not much to talk about here, I slept pretty well through the week and my diet was pretty solid and fibrous. Thought about riding everyday but didn’t actually turn visualisation’s into effort until Thursday. Felt a little sore on Friday so decided to rest easy and then race day had swung around. Poor effort I know, the lure of a frozen bike seat in the garage just wasn’t enough to get me out there on the trainer. Just a little too much of everyday life stuff getting in the way, longer warmer days aren’t too far around the corner and I’m sure this will get easier. Right?!
I recently read that if you want to get the full effects of coffee for performance enhancement in sport, you need to abstain from drinking it for at least 5 days before the event. I haven’t actually tried having a few cups before a race or hard ride and most definitely didn’t abstain from coffee during the week. I’m sure I’ll try this one day but it wasn’t to be for this one.
The Race
I rocked up with my family and bike at the ready. With a comfortable 30mins spare to sign on and to get that race plate on I went for solid warm-up just before race start. I made sure I cracked a good HR in the warm-up, an older, wiser, faster guy told me that the warm up is key to getting a good lap. Thanks Dylan you old man.
I thought that I had a pretty good idea on the track layout from studying trail maps of previous races at Stromlo-West. I was spot on for the 1st half of the circuit but the 2nd half presented trails I haven’t ridden before and ended up contributing to the most testing MTB race/ride that I’ve done so far.
The way the starter lady let us off was surreal and ended up being a perfect paradox for what was about to unfold. She was so relaxed, so at ease with her job that she pretty much let us start ourselves. She called the A graders up and said “Oh well, rightio, just go then“…I can understand not having a gun but you have to say ‘Ready, Set, Go!!!’ Come on…
The course ended up taking me over 2hrs and was about 40kms long. Normally its 90min race and maybe about 30kms. The extra distance and challenging track made it a big effort. This link is to a GPS track of a guy who also raced B grade, he finished a few minutes in front of me.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101622778
As per usual the first lap pace was fast and I was on full throttle, and with a start straight that gave us few hundred metres of climbing I barely held on to the Top 5. But once we set into a groove, and the corners started getting tighter I managed to pull them back a little. Ended up riding the 1st 2nd and 3rd lap with two other guys but half way through the 3rd lap they left me to ride out the rest of the race by myself.
There were some awesome sections on the track, the undulating Willow Link was fast and flowing. Terminal Velocity is an intense little bit of track that is basically a top gear roller coaster dipper that is fast enough to shoot you back out on top of a rocky hill. I remember feeling my grips compressing as I was holding on over the 100s of 1 inch marbles that were trying to send you off the track. With a few nice jumps and berms down the last section you were left with a smile on the dial ready to do it all again.
The last lap was killer for me, I’d had a GU before the start and one during the 3rd lap. I think they might have helped a little but I was really feeling it. It was the first time in ages that my shoulders and arms were actually getting tired from riding. My calves hinted at cramping at one stage but I managed to spin them out a little and didn’t have to stop. Lucky I wasn’t actually racing close to anyone at that stage because it could have been the end of my race. Coming down the hill to the finish was a great feeling and I was greeted with a bunch of fellow riders all looking very pleased with themselves. I stopped, looked around and then got slapped in the face with my own 3 inch snot worm. This seemed to please the crowd for some reason and they began clapping and cheering like something shocking had just happened. I was the last finisher in B grade and with a few DNF’s behind me I ended up in 8th. There is no doubt this game is tough and everyone out there on Saturday did well to finish, or nearly finish as the case may be for some.
Another race down, and I’m looking to the next month of training for more good times on the trails.
Until next post
Ride on
Dave
The racing kicked off on Saturday afternoon when we all got in on the action with the CORC Rd 3.3 race. Then after a home cooked cassoulet, we watched Mark Webber get pole at the German Grand Prix, he went on to get 3rd in the race. A quick flick to SBS had us back onto the Tour de France, we watched Cadel Evans smash the time trial (and the haters) to take him to the pinnacle of his career. Then it was MotoGP in the USA, qualifying on Sunday morning and Casey Stoner started from 2nd and went on to win.
CADEL, Aussie! WEBBER, Aussie! STONER, Aussie! Good little Aussies racing in Canberra, OI! OI! OI!
Race Preparation
Not much to talk about here, I slept pretty well through the week and my diet was pretty solid and fibrous. Thought about riding everyday but didn’t actually turn visualisation’s into effort until Thursday. Felt a little sore on Friday so decided to rest easy and then race day had swung around. Poor effort I know, the lure of a frozen bike seat in the garage just wasn’t enough to get me out there on the trainer. Just a little too much of everyday life stuff getting in the way, longer warmer days aren’t too far around the corner and I’m sure this will get easier. Right?!
I recently read that if you want to get the full effects of coffee for performance enhancement in sport, you need to abstain from drinking it for at least 5 days before the event. I haven’t actually tried having a few cups before a race or hard ride and most definitely didn’t abstain from coffee during the week. I’m sure I’ll try this one day but it wasn’t to be for this one.
The Race
I rocked up with my family and bike at the ready. With a comfortable 30mins spare to sign on and to get that race plate on I went for solid warm-up just before race start. I made sure I cracked a good HR in the warm-up, an older, wiser, faster guy told me that the warm up is key to getting a good lap. Thanks Dylan you old man.
I thought that I had a pretty good idea on the track layout from studying trail maps of previous races at Stromlo-West. I was spot on for the 1st half of the circuit but the 2nd half presented trails I haven’t ridden before and ended up contributing to the most testing MTB race/ride that I’ve done so far.
The way the starter lady let us off was surreal and ended up being a perfect paradox for what was about to unfold. She was so relaxed, so at ease with her job that she pretty much let us start ourselves. She called the A graders up and said “Oh well, rightio, just go then“…I can understand not having a gun but you have to say ‘Ready, Set, Go!!!’ Come on…
The course ended up taking me over 2hrs and was about 40kms long. Normally its 90min race and maybe about 30kms. The extra distance and challenging track made it a big effort. This link is to a GPS track of a guy who also raced B grade, he finished a few minutes in front of me.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101622778
As per usual the first lap pace was fast and I was on full throttle, and with a start straight that gave us few hundred metres of climbing I barely held on to the Top 5. But once we set into a groove, and the corners started getting tighter I managed to pull them back a little. Ended up riding the 1st 2nd and 3rd lap with two other guys but half way through the 3rd lap they left me to ride out the rest of the race by myself.
There were some awesome sections on the track, the undulating Willow Link was fast and flowing. Terminal Velocity is an intense little bit of track that is basically a top gear roller coaster dipper that is fast enough to shoot you back out on top of a rocky hill. I remember feeling my grips compressing as I was holding on over the 100s of 1 inch marbles that were trying to send you off the track. With a few nice jumps and berms down the last section you were left with a smile on the dial ready to do it all again.
The last lap was killer for me, I’d had a GU before the start and one during the 3rd lap. I think they might have helped a little but I was really feeling it. It was the first time in ages that my shoulders and arms were actually getting tired from riding. My calves hinted at cramping at one stage but I managed to spin them out a little and didn’t have to stop. Lucky I wasn’t actually racing close to anyone at that stage because it could have been the end of my race. Coming down the hill to the finish was a great feeling and I was greeted with a bunch of fellow riders all looking very pleased with themselves. I stopped, looked around and then got slapped in the face with my own 3 inch snot worm. This seemed to please the crowd for some reason and they began clapping and cheering like something shocking had just happened. I was the last finisher in B grade and with a few DNF’s behind me I ended up in 8th. There is no doubt this game is tough and everyone out there on Saturday did well to finish, or nearly finish as the case may be for some.
Another race down, and I’m looking to the next month of training for more good times on the trails.
Until next post
Ride on
Dave
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Manna Maniacs - CORC Round 3, Manna Park, South Coast, NSW
Winter has come, and it has hit really hard, with some days seeing temps drop to zero before the sun has gone down. We can see snow on the Brindabella Mountains which means the ski season has kicked off, and the tracks are consistently moist and grippy. Riding and training is still possible but I’m finding it hard to stay motivated. I came down with an URTI (Upper Respiratory Tract Infection) in the days leading up the 7hr so I had to make a last minute decision to pull out. Thanks to Matt for stepping in to race for me, I think he had the sniffles as well but pushed through with the team to complete with a good result.
As per usual I’ve had a mixed bag of training ‘weeks’ over the last month or so. I ended up losing 2 weeks of training with being sick, but then made the most of the weekends with some good interval sessions and spun out the stationary trainer during the weekdays. On average I’m doing 4 sessions a week with about 5 – 6hrs in the saddle. Now that I’ve locked myself into B grade for the rest of the year I’ve been trying to push out the sessions to 90mins to 120mins. Hopefully this will improve my endurance and give me some more ammo for that last lap. My diet is a little better but this cold weather just makes me want to eat Double Cooked Pork belly all night long. I’ve dropped another skin fold down to 84kgs but still have my eyes set on sub 80kgs by the end of the year. TLC Cycles have been maintaining my Scott to near perfection. The shop hooked me up with some new Ritchey grips and a new Maxxis CrossMark tyre, all at the right price. Thanks for the help team TLC.
We have started a facebook group as a gee-up for friends who ride and race to get organised with rides and weekends away like this. It’s proving to be a handy tool and we ended up with 8 like minded Track Elves making the pilgrimage to sunny Merimbula. It’s refreshing to be hanging out with easy going folks who like to race hard when the gun goes off.
The Race
I’m still at bit puzzled at the rationale for having an ACT round of the CORC series in NSW, but for me, to get a taste of a new track and score some points at the same time seems like a great idea. So with no better excuse, Cathy, Callum and I packed up the car as a family unit and headed to the coast.
The Race was held at Manna Park which is situated about 15mins north of Merimbula. The park presented typical Aussie coastal flora and fauna with ferny gullies, loamy blackened soil then to tall eucalypts and rocky trails on the top of the mountain. Driving into the park I could feel every little tight and sore point in my legs, my hamstrings felt a little tight, my throat felt a little sore and my body was trying hard to convince my mind that flogging around single trail for 90mins isn’t a good thing. Bad luck body, because my mind knows better!!!
http://www.mannapark.com.au/
It wasn’t a huge turn out of riders and the officials decided to run A and B grade together. It was a bit hard to know who entered what grade but some familiar faces told the story fairly well. I went in with the attitude to keep the lead riders in view for the first lap, find a good pace for the middle 2 laps then punch out a quick last lap. Without a practice lap I also committed myself to hitting all the A lines at pace, that’s logical isn’t it?!?!
The first lap went to plan, I found myself towards the back of the pack but with a few riders behind me. I was pushing and breathing hard at a HR of 175bpm and made a little space between me and 5th place. On the descent I managed to recover into a manageable 165bpm and was feeling ok. The A lines were designed well and you didn’t really need to be 100% committed to make it over them, the drop off’s were actually steep down ramps and the rocky descent was smooth enough to hit with speed without losing it. Lots of fast flowing berms were you could carry heaps of speed but as per usual the downhill just wasn’t long enough.
Early into the second lap and with the last lap in mind, I told myself to conserve and recover. I locked into a pace that was still pushing hard but without going anaerobic so my legs could clean themselves out a little. It didn’t take long and 5th place was on the move and got past me up the steep switch backs. I let him go and convinced myself that any chance I had would be to get him in the finals stages of the race when he wrecked himself. Well that didn’t happen, he got faster and I had a mechanical.
The third lap is a bit of a blur but I got passed by another rider and was riding in 6th, or last as there were only 6 riders. I remember feeling a strong pain in my hip down to the outside of my quads so I’m going to have to get some advice on that one. I changed up gears, down gears, and back up again until I found a cadence that didn’t hurt as much. Being a bit slower on the steep up hill section I knew I had to punch out some strong downhill action to have any chance at getting that place back. I locked in, thought about being smooth and fast, thought about Luke Skywalker and the force, and hammered the descent as fast as I could. Man it was a fun track, off camber long turns, gullies into tight berm’s and wide open big ring sprints through grassy firetrail’s, it had it all.
The last lap, time to give it everything. Near the top of the climb right when I had punished my legs as much as I could, I noticed my front tyre was going down slowly. It was only a minute later and I had my bike over my shoulder and was jogging through the bush from one single trail to the other. I found a friendly marshal (Andy), on the track and asked him for a tube. He said no but ‘take my front wheel if you want’. Sweet….After a quick pit stop, I was back on the trail, but his front disc was smaller then mine so I had to hit the downhill with only my back brake. All good, ‘channel those BMX days and find your inner bandit’ I said to myself. Also had to repeat out loud, left brake only, left brake only. I knew if I grabbed my front brake it may lock up and leave me on foot again, or my pads would seize together leaving me with a trip to the bike shop. Luckily Carmel (fastest lady on the track) rode past just as I pulled back onto the trail and she was able to get me back into a nice pace and give me a dusty warning on fast approaching tight corners. After a couple of moments and massive skids, I made it to the finish. I probably lost about 6mins with the flat but at least I finished. I’m hoping all this bad luck will come as part of my steep learning curve and next year will bring better luck and better results. Might even get some better luck in the next race :-)
Race Work Rate
Max HR: 179bpm
Average HR: 165bpm
Highlights
- awesome track with heaps of technical stuff
- fun steep and fast downhill section
- Saturday night dinner with the gang
- coming into 2nd lap ahead of a few quick B graders
- hanging with my little family and having them at the race
- currently running 11th in B grade standings
Lowlights
- steep switchbacks wasn’t very well suited to a heavy climber like me
- downhill was over way too quickly
- bloody puncture, going tubeless soon for sure
- back axle is still slipping in those carbon drop outs
- B grade first lap pace is still well beyond me
Next race is CORC Rd 3.3 for locals who couldn’t make it the Manna Park. It's on this weekend. My goal will be similar to the last, Top 10 will be good but Top 5 I’d view as a win.
Until next post.
Ride On!!!
As per usual I’ve had a mixed bag of training ‘weeks’ over the last month or so. I ended up losing 2 weeks of training with being sick, but then made the most of the weekends with some good interval sessions and spun out the stationary trainer during the weekdays. On average I’m doing 4 sessions a week with about 5 – 6hrs in the saddle. Now that I’ve locked myself into B grade for the rest of the year I’ve been trying to push out the sessions to 90mins to 120mins. Hopefully this will improve my endurance and give me some more ammo for that last lap. My diet is a little better but this cold weather just makes me want to eat Double Cooked Pork belly all night long. I’ve dropped another skin fold down to 84kgs but still have my eyes set on sub 80kgs by the end of the year. TLC Cycles have been maintaining my Scott to near perfection. The shop hooked me up with some new Ritchey grips and a new Maxxis CrossMark tyre, all at the right price. Thanks for the help team TLC.
We have started a facebook group as a gee-up for friends who ride and race to get organised with rides and weekends away like this. It’s proving to be a handy tool and we ended up with 8 like minded Track Elves making the pilgrimage to sunny Merimbula. It’s refreshing to be hanging out with easy going folks who like to race hard when the gun goes off.
The Race
I’m still at bit puzzled at the rationale for having an ACT round of the CORC series in NSW, but for me, to get a taste of a new track and score some points at the same time seems like a great idea. So with no better excuse, Cathy, Callum and I packed up the car as a family unit and headed to the coast.
The Race was held at Manna Park which is situated about 15mins north of Merimbula. The park presented typical Aussie coastal flora and fauna with ferny gullies, loamy blackened soil then to tall eucalypts and rocky trails on the top of the mountain. Driving into the park I could feel every little tight and sore point in my legs, my hamstrings felt a little tight, my throat felt a little sore and my body was trying hard to convince my mind that flogging around single trail for 90mins isn’t a good thing. Bad luck body, because my mind knows better!!!
http://www.mannapark.com.au/
It wasn’t a huge turn out of riders and the officials decided to run A and B grade together. It was a bit hard to know who entered what grade but some familiar faces told the story fairly well. I went in with the attitude to keep the lead riders in view for the first lap, find a good pace for the middle 2 laps then punch out a quick last lap. Without a practice lap I also committed myself to hitting all the A lines at pace, that’s logical isn’t it?!?!
The first lap went to plan, I found myself towards the back of the pack but with a few riders behind me. I was pushing and breathing hard at a HR of 175bpm and made a little space between me and 5th place. On the descent I managed to recover into a manageable 165bpm and was feeling ok. The A lines were designed well and you didn’t really need to be 100% committed to make it over them, the drop off’s were actually steep down ramps and the rocky descent was smooth enough to hit with speed without losing it. Lots of fast flowing berms were you could carry heaps of speed but as per usual the downhill just wasn’t long enough.
Early into the second lap and with the last lap in mind, I told myself to conserve and recover. I locked into a pace that was still pushing hard but without going anaerobic so my legs could clean themselves out a little. It didn’t take long and 5th place was on the move and got past me up the steep switch backs. I let him go and convinced myself that any chance I had would be to get him in the finals stages of the race when he wrecked himself. Well that didn’t happen, he got faster and I had a mechanical.
The third lap is a bit of a blur but I got passed by another rider and was riding in 6th, or last as there were only 6 riders. I remember feeling a strong pain in my hip down to the outside of my quads so I’m going to have to get some advice on that one. I changed up gears, down gears, and back up again until I found a cadence that didn’t hurt as much. Being a bit slower on the steep up hill section I knew I had to punch out some strong downhill action to have any chance at getting that place back. I locked in, thought about being smooth and fast, thought about Luke Skywalker and the force, and hammered the descent as fast as I could. Man it was a fun track, off camber long turns, gullies into tight berm’s and wide open big ring sprints through grassy firetrail’s, it had it all.
The last lap, time to give it everything. Near the top of the climb right when I had punished my legs as much as I could, I noticed my front tyre was going down slowly. It was only a minute later and I had my bike over my shoulder and was jogging through the bush from one single trail to the other. I found a friendly marshal (Andy), on the track and asked him for a tube. He said no but ‘take my front wheel if you want’. Sweet….After a quick pit stop, I was back on the trail, but his front disc was smaller then mine so I had to hit the downhill with only my back brake. All good, ‘channel those BMX days and find your inner bandit’ I said to myself. Also had to repeat out loud, left brake only, left brake only. I knew if I grabbed my front brake it may lock up and leave me on foot again, or my pads would seize together leaving me with a trip to the bike shop. Luckily Carmel (fastest lady on the track) rode past just as I pulled back onto the trail and she was able to get me back into a nice pace and give me a dusty warning on fast approaching tight corners. After a couple of moments and massive skids, I made it to the finish. I probably lost about 6mins with the flat but at least I finished. I’m hoping all this bad luck will come as part of my steep learning curve and next year will bring better luck and better results. Might even get some better luck in the next race :-)
 |
| Andy my savour |
Race Work Rate
Max HR: 179bpm
Average HR: 165bpm
Highlights
- awesome track with heaps of technical stuff
- fun steep and fast downhill section
- Saturday night dinner with the gang
- coming into 2nd lap ahead of a few quick B graders
- hanging with my little family and having them at the race
- currently running 11th in B grade standings
Lowlights
- steep switchbacks wasn’t very well suited to a heavy climber like me
- downhill was over way too quickly
- bloody puncture, going tubeless soon for sure
- back axle is still slipping in those carbon drop outs
- B grade first lap pace is still well beyond me
Next race is CORC Rd 3.3 for locals who couldn’t make it the Manna Park. It's on this weekend. My goal will be similar to the last, Top 10 will be good but Top 5 I’d view as a win.
Until next post.
Ride On!!!
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Sore but not Sorry – CORC Round 2, Mt Majura
Race Prep
My preparation for this race wasn’t bad, but there were plenty of areas for improvement. There was only 3 weeks between Rd 1 and Rd 2 so I really needed to get riding as soon I had had recovered from Rd 1. I didn’t get out for a few a days after the race, probably because of those competing priorities again, the state of origin, family dinners, spending time with wifey and the young fella, keeping warm. All beautiful priorities when it comes down to it. I only got two rides in that 1st week and 3 mediocre rides in the 2nd week, and then with 5 good sessions I smashed myself on catch-up in the 3rd week. I’m going to put it down to not committing to this blog with regular posts and updates I’ll look to improve on that in coming weeks.
Other things I need to improve on:
- earlier nights to get some morning rides in.
- my eating habits in the last few weeks would have got me on biggest loser if it wasn’t for the riding that I’ve been doing.
- more shed sessions on the trainer while watching Will Ferrell movies to shave those skin-folds, I view this as free speed so have to get down to a decent race weight ASAP. I’ve levelled out at about 85.5kgs, goal to be at around 80kg by the end of the year.
The Race
Before I knew it, race day had swung around and I loaded my freshly serviced bike into my cousins van. It was to be his first XC race and awesome that we’ve finally found common, competitive, and dusty ground that we can share. It was cold yesterday morning, very cold, probably zero in the sun and minus 2 in the shade with a slight breeze to chill things off even further. Is coffee good for pre-race preparation? Who cares its bloody cold and I need it.
We got to the track and with the car park over flowing, the excitement was starting to build. I had already made up my mind about what grade to enter, partly because of peer pressure, but mostly because I have me eyes set on racing A grade in the final round next year. “So you’ll be entering C grade today” the lovely volunteer asked. Nope, put me down for B Grade please. Game on Dirt Monkeys!
I did a little warm-up wheelie, said hello to my family who had come out to cheer me on and took my place behind the A graders and in the guts of B grade. Looking around it seems that B graders are all a little leaner, a little taller and have cleaner bikes then C grade. It’s the clean bike’s that worry me, that spells preparation and a switched on competitor. I entered the race with a totally different game plan to the last, my friend (Trent) and new rival was in the race so I planned to lock onto his back wheel for as long as possible and then see what happens in the last lap. An A grader friend said, just try and keep the front guys in view the whole time.
The plan worked for some of the first lap. Then I overtook Trent before a decent, it was all going ok, but I remember thinking, “oh I hope you didn’t follow me through that section because it was a massive hack”. Next thing I know my front wheel pushed through a sandy berm and I laid it over, price for not doing a practice lap I suppose. 5 riders went passed me before I was back up and running, but my rhythm was gone, skin on my left leg gone, my mate, gone. Crap this wasn’t in the plan. So I enacted plan B, get back on the wheel of Trent and get back to plan A. I managed to get back on the tail of the bunch in a few minutes and was back on Trent’s wheel as we went over the start/finish. Sweet, got my tow back!!!
Same section but on 2nd lap, I went for the same move, went passed Trent before the decent and made it through the sandy berm this time. He even let out a ‘yahoooo’ for my efforts. About 3 minutes later I hear a nasty chain noise and looked down, my front derailleur slipped and my chain was jammed up against it. Pulled over to try and force it back but needed some tools to do so. Rode as a single speeder for the rest of the lap and did a 2min pit stop at the start/finish. At this point I was having serious thoughts about quitting, I knew that any decent result was now out the question, but my nephews were there, my family cheering me on, and the young riders need to see commitment from the older guys. So I pressed on. New plan was to try and get myself off last place and put in a good fast lap on my last lap. I pushed through, found a good rhythm and with the help of some wind from Dylan Cooper screaming past me on single speeder with no suspension, I punched out my fastest lap on my last lap. Finished in 13th out of 17 starters and left with a few sneaky points on the board.
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I learned a hard lesson from this race! Don’t smash the descents on the 1st lap if I don’t know the track. Otherwise it was a RACE and I got race conditions. I ended up a full 12 minutes behind 1st place so I still have a long way to climb before thinking about A grade. It was an eventful one that didn’t return a good result but I finished and I’m happy with my first B grade initiation.
Next race is this coming weekend, SCUM 7hr at Stromlo in a team of 3. I’ll have a well earned rest day today but will be back into the training by tomorrow night.
Until next post.
Skids and wheelies!!
My preparation for this race wasn’t bad, but there were plenty of areas for improvement. There was only 3 weeks between Rd 1 and Rd 2 so I really needed to get riding as soon I had had recovered from Rd 1. I didn’t get out for a few a days after the race, probably because of those competing priorities again, the state of origin, family dinners, spending time with wifey and the young fella, keeping warm. All beautiful priorities when it comes down to it. I only got two rides in that 1st week and 3 mediocre rides in the 2nd week, and then with 5 good sessions I smashed myself on catch-up in the 3rd week. I’m going to put it down to not committing to this blog with regular posts and updates I’ll look to improve on that in coming weeks.
Other things I need to improve on:
- earlier nights to get some morning rides in.
- my eating habits in the last few weeks would have got me on biggest loser if it wasn’t for the riding that I’ve been doing.
- more shed sessions on the trainer while watching Will Ferrell movies to shave those skin-folds, I view this as free speed so have to get down to a decent race weight ASAP. I’ve levelled out at about 85.5kgs, goal to be at around 80kg by the end of the year.
The Race
Before I knew it, race day had swung around and I loaded my freshly serviced bike into my cousins van. It was to be his first XC race and awesome that we’ve finally found common, competitive, and dusty ground that we can share. It was cold yesterday morning, very cold, probably zero in the sun and minus 2 in the shade with a slight breeze to chill things off even further. Is coffee good for pre-race preparation? Who cares its bloody cold and I need it.
We got to the track and with the car park over flowing, the excitement was starting to build. I had already made up my mind about what grade to enter, partly because of peer pressure, but mostly because I have me eyes set on racing A grade in the final round next year. “So you’ll be entering C grade today” the lovely volunteer asked. Nope, put me down for B Grade please. Game on Dirt Monkeys!
I did a little warm-up wheelie, said hello to my family who had come out to cheer me on and took my place behind the A graders and in the guts of B grade. Looking around it seems that B graders are all a little leaner, a little taller and have cleaner bikes then C grade. It’s the clean bike’s that worry me, that spells preparation and a switched on competitor. I entered the race with a totally different game plan to the last, my friend (Trent) and new rival was in the race so I planned to lock onto his back wheel for as long as possible and then see what happens in the last lap. An A grader friend said, just try and keep the front guys in view the whole time.
The plan worked for some of the first lap. Then I overtook Trent before a decent, it was all going ok, but I remember thinking, “oh I hope you didn’t follow me through that section because it was a massive hack”. Next thing I know my front wheel pushed through a sandy berm and I laid it over, price for not doing a practice lap I suppose. 5 riders went passed me before I was back up and running, but my rhythm was gone, skin on my left leg gone, my mate, gone. Crap this wasn’t in the plan. So I enacted plan B, get back on the wheel of Trent and get back to plan A. I managed to get back on the tail of the bunch in a few minutes and was back on Trent’s wheel as we went over the start/finish. Sweet, got my tow back!!!
Same section but on 2nd lap, I went for the same move, went passed Trent before the decent and made it through the sandy berm this time. He even let out a ‘yahoooo’ for my efforts. About 3 minutes later I hear a nasty chain noise and looked down, my front derailleur slipped and my chain was jammed up against it. Pulled over to try and force it back but needed some tools to do so. Rode as a single speeder for the rest of the lap and did a 2min pit stop at the start/finish. At this point I was having serious thoughts about quitting, I knew that any decent result was now out the question, but my nephews were there, my family cheering me on, and the young riders need to see commitment from the older guys. So I pressed on. New plan was to try and get myself off last place and put in a good fast lap on my last lap. I pushed through, found a good rhythm and with the help of some wind from Dylan Cooper screaming past me on single speeder with no suspension, I punched out my fastest lap on my last lap. Finished in 13th out of 17 starters and left with a few sneaky points on the board.
I learned a hard lesson from this race! Don’t smash the descents on the 1st lap if I don’t know the track. Otherwise it was a RACE and I got race conditions. I ended up a full 12 minutes behind 1st place so I still have a long way to climb before thinking about A grade. It was an eventful one that didn’t return a good result but I finished and I’m happy with my first B grade initiation.
Next race is this coming weekend, SCUM 7hr at Stromlo in a team of 3. I’ll have a well earned rest day today but will be back into the training by tomorrow night.
Until next post.
Skids and wheelies!!
Sunday, 29 May 2011
On a High & Hooked! - CORC Round 1, Mt Stromlo
Back in 2003, a massive fire storm wiped out thousands of hectares of native forest and pine plantations in the surrounding areas of the Canberra region. It didn’t stop there when the fire went on to claim lives and scores of houses. We were lucky and didn’t loose anything or anyone close to us but we know plenty of people who did. Why am I telling you all this?!?! The Stromlo Forest Park MTB facility would not exist today if it wasn’t for the fire that cleared the way for the development. Mt Stromlo was totally decimated by the fires that left a perfectly clean slate to build an awesome facility. The ACT Government came through with the grant and today we have a road criterium course, a XC running course, horse riding trails, BMX dirt jumping park and they have a built a Pavilion with facilities for the larger events. Plans are in place for accommodation, chair lifts and more downhill trails. All of this less then 10 minute ride from my front door.
http://www.stromloforestpark.com.au/
The Race
I didn’t eat any breakfast before the race, my stomach felt like a squeezed stress ball so it wasn’t going to take anything substantial. So with race start at 9:30am all I had time for was some water and sports drink. I prepared my bike and gear the day before so all I had to do was gear up and roll out. I rode to the track nice and slow, it probably took me about 15mins. One after the other, beautiful bikes primed and ready to hit the dirt went past me on top of cars.
I’m amazed at the variety in the way that people prepare for the race. Sure enough there are the usual early birds, setup and geared up before the sign on tent has even opened. Then there are the people that punch out multiple practice laps, I think this is crazy. Maybe one slow sighting lap if you’re worried about the technical bits but smashing the track at close to race speed just seems ludicrous. Is this a Tour de France time trial or what….? I was actually cheering them on just in case they were in my class, like go on boys, burn it all up now, hahaha.
My friend Josh gave me a proton pill (in the form of a GU squeeze) on the start line. The super sweet berry flavour makes me cringe just thinking about it. HR was steady at about 85bpm but those waves of nerves kept coming and going right up until the starter let us loose. I didn’t get the holeshot because this looney tune took off like a BMX racer and I just let him going thinking that he was probably an A grader in the wrong class. I locked in behind 2nd place and watched my HR closely, cruising around 175bpm wasn’t bad for the first stage, I can maintain this in training but I know how my legs feel later if I do it for a minute too long. 2nd place was a super light and had really skinny legs, I was wondering how they were going to fire up when the track gets a bit steeper. Sure enough mid berm up the switch backs, he would just about come to a stop and when I came close to crashing I thought this was enough, so called track and passed him up the inside. For the rest of the first lap it was just me and the track, I dropped my HR back down to 160bpm and locked into a good pace.
It wasn’t long before I noticed 3rd place catching up, and early on the 2nd lap he went past me up a pinch. I was blown away on two fronts, he smashed me on the hill and he looked to weigh in at 95kg’s or more. Then he said to me, ‘oh shit I hate this section coming up’. Like, why did you pass right here then, gosh!!! I’d recovered from the start so I put my head down and locked onto his back wheel. By the end of the 2nd lap we had caught 1st place.
I remembered the back of his jersey well from his initial sprint off the start that had held him first place for most of the race. I was so surprised that I actually called out, ‘1st, 2nd, 3rd C grade all right here!!!” Instantly 1st place got out of his saddle and started pushing hard, I was thinking ooops, shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. After riding with 2nd for a good lap now we were most definitely brothers of the dirt, and he said to me ‘don’t worry mate, we’ll catch him again!’ I was like sweet, show me the way man. So I stayed with my tow and sure enough within about 2kms we caught him. Now I started thinking really hard about how I can execute this, I had actually settled for 2nd, but then I dropped back to 3rd, now I’m racing for 1st. Lets go!!!
I didn’t waste much time and in full slip stream stance (lying on my seat), sling-shotted past 2nd on the fast traverse fire trail section. Punched it through black berry climb and hooked a line onto the back wheel of first place. He looked fit and fast up the climbs but slowed on some of the corners so I knew he wasn’t the best at keeping momentum. There was a short section of steep downhill fire road that hooked into a 90 degree single trail, this was going to be my opportunity. So as soon as we hit the fire road I sprinted for the corner, getting heaps of speed, zooming into first place and into a massive two wheel drift through the powdery dust. I heard 1st place let out a grunt that was a blended form appreciation and disgust as I left him with a face full of dust. In an instant there were a few slightly slower riders in front of us, got passed one and then locked onto a quick single speeder for a coupe of km’s of undulating single trail. As soon as we hit the downhill we opened the gap by a few seconds. I went passed the single speeder and milked the track for as much free speed as I could find, pedalled as much as I could and went over the finish line 7 seconds in front. On a High and Hooked!!!
I rode the 4th lap but was fairly wrecked from giving it everything, I completed the 4th lap about 3mins slower then the others and estimate that I would have finished 5th or 6th if i was racing in B grade.
Actually felt pretty good, the hard intervals have paid off and gave me some recovery and ability to push hard at the crucial points in the race. I never bonked and was able to finish the extra lap at a reasonable pace. Even my lower back held up until after the race, I’ve been doing situps and push ups using the fit ball so it seems that I’m getting more stability and strength in my core.
Recovery went ok, I had a big Milo milkshake and wifey took me out to the Botanical Gardens for a chicken burger and salad. I had a bit of a headache but this seems pretty normal for me after a race, not sure why though.
Race Work Rate
Max HR – 185bpm (98% MHR)
Avg HR – 167bpm (88% MHR)
The Bike
I love my Scott Carbon frame and TLC Cycles hooks me up with all the good gear so it's running like a dream. The bike just comes into its own when you get up out of the saddle and sprint over crests and it has awesome hanling in any downhill situation. Could have used some rear suspension on those super rocky climbs but it really came down to picking better lines. My gears need adjusting but that’s about it. Oh yeah and I think I had my forks were locked out for most of the last lap, maybe that’s the secrete, hahaha.
Until next post..
Keep Ridin’
http://www.stromloforestpark.com.au/
The Race
I didn’t eat any breakfast before the race, my stomach felt like a squeezed stress ball so it wasn’t going to take anything substantial. So with race start at 9:30am all I had time for was some water and sports drink. I prepared my bike and gear the day before so all I had to do was gear up and roll out. I rode to the track nice and slow, it probably took me about 15mins. One after the other, beautiful bikes primed and ready to hit the dirt went past me on top of cars.
I’m amazed at the variety in the way that people prepare for the race. Sure enough there are the usual early birds, setup and geared up before the sign on tent has even opened. Then there are the people that punch out multiple practice laps, I think this is crazy. Maybe one slow sighting lap if you’re worried about the technical bits but smashing the track at close to race speed just seems ludicrous. Is this a Tour de France time trial or what….? I was actually cheering them on just in case they were in my class, like go on boys, burn it all up now, hahaha.
My friend Josh gave me a proton pill (in the form of a GU squeeze) on the start line. The super sweet berry flavour makes me cringe just thinking about it. HR was steady at about 85bpm but those waves of nerves kept coming and going right up until the starter let us loose. I didn’t get the holeshot because this looney tune took off like a BMX racer and I just let him going thinking that he was probably an A grader in the wrong class. I locked in behind 2nd place and watched my HR closely, cruising around 175bpm wasn’t bad for the first stage, I can maintain this in training but I know how my legs feel later if I do it for a minute too long. 2nd place was a super light and had really skinny legs, I was wondering how they were going to fire up when the track gets a bit steeper. Sure enough mid berm up the switch backs, he would just about come to a stop and when I came close to crashing I thought this was enough, so called track and passed him up the inside. For the rest of the first lap it was just me and the track, I dropped my HR back down to 160bpm and locked into a good pace.
It wasn’t long before I noticed 3rd place catching up, and early on the 2nd lap he went past me up a pinch. I was blown away on two fronts, he smashed me on the hill and he looked to weigh in at 95kg’s or more. Then he said to me, ‘oh shit I hate this section coming up’. Like, why did you pass right here then, gosh!!! I’d recovered from the start so I put my head down and locked onto his back wheel. By the end of the 2nd lap we had caught 1st place.
I remembered the back of his jersey well from his initial sprint off the start that had held him first place for most of the race. I was so surprised that I actually called out, ‘1st, 2nd, 3rd C grade all right here!!!” Instantly 1st place got out of his saddle and started pushing hard, I was thinking ooops, shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. After riding with 2nd for a good lap now we were most definitely brothers of the dirt, and he said to me ‘don’t worry mate, we’ll catch him again!’ I was like sweet, show me the way man. So I stayed with my tow and sure enough within about 2kms we caught him. Now I started thinking really hard about how I can execute this, I had actually settled for 2nd, but then I dropped back to 3rd, now I’m racing for 1st. Lets go!!!
I didn’t waste much time and in full slip stream stance (lying on my seat), sling-shotted past 2nd on the fast traverse fire trail section. Punched it through black berry climb and hooked a line onto the back wheel of first place. He looked fit and fast up the climbs but slowed on some of the corners so I knew he wasn’t the best at keeping momentum. There was a short section of steep downhill fire road that hooked into a 90 degree single trail, this was going to be my opportunity. So as soon as we hit the fire road I sprinted for the corner, getting heaps of speed, zooming into first place and into a massive two wheel drift through the powdery dust. I heard 1st place let out a grunt that was a blended form appreciation and disgust as I left him with a face full of dust. In an instant there were a few slightly slower riders in front of us, got passed one and then locked onto a quick single speeder for a coupe of km’s of undulating single trail. As soon as we hit the downhill we opened the gap by a few seconds. I went passed the single speeder and milked the track for as much free speed as I could find, pedalled as much as I could and went over the finish line 7 seconds in front. On a High and Hooked!!!
I rode the 4th lap but was fairly wrecked from giving it everything, I completed the 4th lap about 3mins slower then the others and estimate that I would have finished 5th or 6th if i was racing in B grade.
The Body
Actually felt pretty good, the hard intervals have paid off and gave me some recovery and ability to push hard at the crucial points in the race. I never bonked and was able to finish the extra lap at a reasonable pace. Even my lower back held up until after the race, I’ve been doing situps and push ups using the fit ball so it seems that I’m getting more stability and strength in my core.
Recovery went ok, I had a big Milo milkshake and wifey took me out to the Botanical Gardens for a chicken burger and salad. I had a bit of a headache but this seems pretty normal for me after a race, not sure why though.
Race Work Rate
Max HR – 185bpm (98% MHR)
Avg HR – 167bpm (88% MHR)
The Bike
I love my Scott Carbon frame and TLC Cycles hooks me up with all the good gear so it's running like a dream. The bike just comes into its own when you get up out of the saddle and sprint over crests and it has awesome hanling in any downhill situation. Could have used some rear suspension on those super rocky climbs but it really came down to picking better lines. My gears need adjusting but that’s about it. Oh yeah and I think I had my forks were locked out for most of the last lap, maybe that’s the secrete, hahaha.
Until next post..
Keep Ridin’
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Pre-Race Tune-up
Man I’m tired, not physically but I’m really sleepy. With only one night in the last week or more where we’ve had less 3 or 4 disturbances during the night, I’m starting to fade into the fog of parenthood. The young fella is falling into and out of routines like the apocalypse is upon us, and the dog has decided that 3am and -4 degrees is the best time and place to be let out of the laundry to snap one off (oh I didn’t just make that joke did I). I haven’t quite needed a Grande Triple Shot Caramel Macchiato but I have been getting an extra shot of coffee in the afternoons. But not to worry I’ve still been getting out on the bike and have had some great interval sessions in the past week.
I have that little nervous tickle in my stomach, it sort of comes and goes in waves and sometimes wakes me up at night. There are times in my life when I don’t know why I’m getting it but that’s not the case at the moment. It’s all because this Sunday is RACE DAY! Oh yeah! I’ll be racing my first ever XC MTB race at Stromlo. I know I’ve been in a few other MTB racing events but the difference is this one is only about 1.5hrs long which means I’ll have to be running at close to my maximum threshold in order to get a decent result. The others have required more of a tractor pace to ensure that I make duration. This one will be intense and hard work.
Race Strategy
Last week I was feeling good about my preparation and was keen to enter B grade in order to get a taste of the competition and to see what it takes to get a result in A grade. But after speaking with older, wiser riders it seems that Canberra has some serious depth in the field. The course is about 7km’s long and the category’s available are:
A Grade – 5 laps (35km)
B Grade - 4 laps (28km)
C Grade – 3 laps (21km)
D Grade – 2 laps
Vets & Masters
I fancy myself as being a little older and wiser these days too so I’m going to play it safe and enter C grade. But I’m committing to 4 laps so I can compare times with the B graders to see where I would have ended up.
Race Prep – light ride on the day before, good eatin’ and drinkin’!!!
Race Start – being the popular class they normally get about 40 riders in C grade. So I’m going for the holeshot. To be first into the first corner will mean that I’m not held up by slower riders and I’ll be able to gauge how fast the pointy end of the field are really going.
Groovy & Smooth – shortly after the start, maybe 10 to 20 minutes into it or near the end of the first lap. I’m going to try and find my pace, settle into a groove, and try and recover a little from the start sprint. I’m going to milk the track for as much free speed as I can and try to hold of faster riders for as long as I can without blowing up.
Last Lap – who knows, I’ll tell you in my next post. But I’ll be putting extra effort into picking good lines and just pushing out every last gram of strength.
Wish me luck.
Until next post.
Race Hard!!!
I have that little nervous tickle in my stomach, it sort of comes and goes in waves and sometimes wakes me up at night. There are times in my life when I don’t know why I’m getting it but that’s not the case at the moment. It’s all because this Sunday is RACE DAY! Oh yeah! I’ll be racing my first ever XC MTB race at Stromlo. I know I’ve been in a few other MTB racing events but the difference is this one is only about 1.5hrs long which means I’ll have to be running at close to my maximum threshold in order to get a decent result. The others have required more of a tractor pace to ensure that I make duration. This one will be intense and hard work.
Race Strategy
Last week I was feeling good about my preparation and was keen to enter B grade in order to get a taste of the competition and to see what it takes to get a result in A grade. But after speaking with older, wiser riders it seems that Canberra has some serious depth in the field. The course is about 7km’s long and the category’s available are:
A Grade – 5 laps (35km)
B Grade - 4 laps (28km)
C Grade – 3 laps (21km)
D Grade – 2 laps
Vets & Masters
I fancy myself as being a little older and wiser these days too so I’m going to play it safe and enter C grade. But I’m committing to 4 laps so I can compare times with the B graders to see where I would have ended up.
Race Prep – light ride on the day before, good eatin’ and drinkin’!!!
Race Start – being the popular class they normally get about 40 riders in C grade. So I’m going for the holeshot. To be first into the first corner will mean that I’m not held up by slower riders and I’ll be able to gauge how fast the pointy end of the field are really going.
Groovy & Smooth – shortly after the start, maybe 10 to 20 minutes into it or near the end of the first lap. I’m going to try and find my pace, settle into a groove, and try and recover a little from the start sprint. I’m going to milk the track for as much free speed as I can and try to hold of faster riders for as long as I can without blowing up.
Last Lap – who knows, I’ll tell you in my next post. But I’ll be putting extra effort into picking good lines and just pushing out every last gram of strength.
Wish me luck.
Until next post.
Race Hard!!!
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