Tranquility Tire Tantrum: Race Re-cap

On the attack
Photo: Jennifer Greer

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while. Quick re-cap up to this point. Basically been training my ass off. After sweeping the Swanson Pyscowpath weekend I took a couple weeks off. In the middle of that break I managed to DNF at the Twin Bing Classic road race but helped teammate Lucas Marshall to a 2nd place finish. Then I bounced back and claimed a win at the Platte River Battle Royale for the second year in a row. Next up it was some road racing at the Omaha NOW Ashland Criterium. I managed to stay in the front group and finish 7th but man were those guys better than me. I could tell I hadn't been racing. I missed Ponca's Revenge due to a late flight the night before the race but managed to toe the line for the 60 mile Big Ring Ranch Enduro. Try as I might, I couldn't hold off a hard charging Brad Auen and squeaked out a 2nd place in front of teammate Ryan Feagan.

Which brings us to round 5 of the Psycowpath series. I'll be honest, Tranquility is far from my favorite track, but Chris Price and all the trail stewards with THOR have done a wonderful job adding fresh bits to keep it interesting. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the track rode. It's a lightening fast trail with sections that have you pushing at single digit speeds and then screaming on 25 mph straightaways.

Kevin Limpach took the early lead as Brad and I were fine with letting him set the early pace. We immediately had a huge gap over Noah Marcus and the freight train that was lined up behind him. Again it was going to come down to a tactical battle between Brad and I. Kevin began to show signs of tiring out after the first of the three lap race. Midway through the 2nd lap, Brad and I jumped around and began to distance ourselves from Kevin. Brad is a slightly better climber than me at the moment as my extra 10 pounds of off-season CX weight doesn't help me out too much. I knew on the last half of the lap my road fitness would allow me to pull away from Brad so I made the pass and drilled it. By the end of the lap I had the 20 seconds or so that I wanted so I figured all I needed to do was climb as fast as Brad could and descend a little bit faster. The legs felt good for the entire last lap and I rolled through to keep my Psycowpath win streak alive with 4 wins in 4 races. Brad finished about 40 seconds back, my biggest win margin over him this season and Kevin finished 3rd about 4 minutes down.

Hopefully from here on out I get faster and faster as I start building towards CX season. Put the cookies down...

Race Report: Psycowpath River City Shootout

Well hello blog, how have you been? I've been MIA.

After the big blow out that was the 2012/13 CX season I was pretty refreshed and went straight into training for the summer MTB and road races. I've been playing with my Quarq power meter and have been blown away by the quality of training you can get out of it. It's pretty amazing. But, with the weather being crap I hadn't spent any time on the MTB since the Dakota 5-O last labor day.

By the time the trails finally dried out it was, you got it, about a week before the opening round of the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpath series. I made it out mid-week to make sure the mountain bike, ahem, still functioned. I was left with a less than stellar feeling going into the weekend. The bike worked great but I felt like crap. I was left wondering if I'd been spending too much time on the road playing with my new training toy. I managed to pull myself up convincing myself that nobody had been riding their MTB either so the playing field was level, right?

It was going to be an interesting weekend. Local fast-man Kent McNeill was off his usual high fitness level, as was Cam Kirkpatrick from Des Moines. Steve Jarrett was out, Kevin Limpach was out, Nate Woodman was out. The front end was looking pretty lean. One thing for sure was up and comer Brad Auen was definitely not off and was most likely going to be the guy to watch, along with teammate Greg Shimonek.

The weekend started off with a two pack of sprints creating a mini-stage race not a stage race weekend. Saturday was the 20 minute one lap time trial at Jewell Park followed by the 20 minute Short Track Cross Country at Swanson Park.

Did I mention I was nervous? Pretty typical. As I like to say, I'm motivated by self doubt.

The TT went off without a hitch. I ran through the course in my head on the ride to the park pin pointing the sections of the trail I would attack and the others I would recover on. After only one close encounter with a tree I rolled across the line in 16:15 setting a new course record and taking the win ahead of Brad and Greg. My nerves were slightly calmed.

Photo: Emily Hoesly

That evening it was off to Swanson for a more cyclocrossy style race, the STXC. Brad, Kent, and Greg immediately shot of the startline as I had a rough time getting the legs going. Brad was setting a scorching pace as I struggled to get up speed. The legs finally came around after a lap and I figured I should hit back. I made the jump around the front three and attacked the course much like I would a CX race. The gap opened up behind and the group shattered under the pressure. Twenty minutes later I rolled across the line for win number two ahead of Brad, Kent and Shim.

TT/STXC Podium (L/R) Kent McNiell, Greg Shimonek, yours truly, Brad Auen, Noah Marcus
Photo: Emily Hoesly

The next day would be interesting. Kent as I mentioned above slipped out of the intense effort XC race and into the "quest for fitness" marathon class so it was basically going to be Shim and I against Brad. Shim took the lead into the singletrack and the three of us immediately had a gap. Jeremiah Grell and Noah Marcus were close behind but never made contact over the opening two laps. As we rolled through with three laps to go both Brad and Greg went to grab bottles and I rolled through into the lead. I started to test the guys a little bit to see where I could get gaps and by mid-lap I had a plan. I finally opened it up on the backside descent and as we made our way back to the start-finish area I had 15 seconds or so on Brad and a few more on Greg.

Alone at the front in the Cross Country
Photo: Anne Savery

I continued to push hard during the 4th lap and by the end had doubled the gap. At this point I started to back off just a bit only pushing as hard as I needed to. Ultimately rolling across the line for win number three of the weekend a mere 8 seconds ahead of Brad and with two minutes to spare on Greg. I'm stoked to win at Swanson as I consider it my home track. Next up for me will be the Psycowpath Battle Royale at Platte River State Park in 4 weeks. After such a heavy cyclocross campaign last winter I'm picking and choosing my races this summer. Gotta keep it fresh.

XC Podium (L/R) Jeremiah Grell, Brad Auen, yours truely, Greg Shimonek, Jason Gaines
Photo: Emily Hoesly

Where'd you ride?

Super cool Strava Multiple Ride Mapper. Here's what I recorded last year.

The Dakota 5-Oh so fun

Okay, first let me apologize for being a little delinquent over the summer. Blog posts have been few and far between and lacking content. I found myself caught up in the micro-blog world of Tweeter and Bookface. But I promise, I'll do better. How can I not, cross season is literally less than a week away and there is tons to talk about. But first...there's this little matter of closing out the Ballooner season. There's no better way to do that than at the Dakota 5-O.

Anne and I first made the trek to Spearfish, SD back in 2007. We continued to return until the 2011 edition when I tried my hand at Gateway Cup and a four pack of crit races. But in 2012, it was time to return to the Black Hills, this time with gears. My previous 4 attempts at Singlespeed were very rewarding. I slowly worked my way up to the front of the group, only to lose in 2010 by 30 seconds and a flat front tire. Disheartening to say the least. So in 2012 I was back with a vengeance, this time with gears and gunning for the overall win.

We (Anne, Gus and I) hit the road Thursday night and met up with Megan and Rafal in Ainsworth for the night. Driving with an 11 week old puppy is slow going at times. The stops are longer and more frequent. We managed however to roll into the Spearfish City Campground just past noon on Friday and got a nice ride in. The same would be done the following day and with Gus finally sleeping through the night I felt like I was fully (mostly) rested and ready to go.

On race morning the routine from my previous four years fell right into place. Up at 5am, roll to Common Grounds for a breakfast bagel and mocha latte, then back to the campground to prepare bottles and kit up.

Although 50 miles doesn't quite warrant a warm-up, the start is strenuous enough you want to have the option to 'go' if needed.

Gettin' the fist bump from Smokey

My hopes of victory and my plan of leading into the opening singletrack were squelched almost immediately when I met up with Cameron Chambers at the start line. I figured I could race with everybody else but Cameron is in a whole different league. And this season he's riding better than ever. To put that in perspective, he's a former National Solo 24 Hour Champion.

Best of the rest holeshot into the singletrack

Sure enough, as Perry dropped his arm after the neutral roll out, Cameron stood up on a bigger gear than the rest of us and it was quite obvious the race was for second. Initially, local boy Dave Olson and I responded until Cameron stood up again, I let him go, Dave followed, only to sit up another half mile up the opening gravel road. As Dave drifted away from Cameron's wheel, I decided to bring him back with hopes of still being the first to singletrack in our best of the rest group. Dave gave me a slight challenge but I eventually went through and took the lead.

This is where it gets fuzzy. Dave and Dan Methaney were on my wheel, pretty sure it was just the three of us. By half climb Dan skirted by me as well as Dave. The two pulled out a 30 second gap on me with the gap behind to the rest about the same. I was fine with this as we still had over 40 miles to go.

Over the cattle ramp early on

I managed to keep the two in sight for quite awhile but it was clear they were both climbing faster than me. My real hope now was to settle into 4th place and hold it to the finish. By checkpoint 2 I could hear somebody stalking me, Anne gave me my final two bottles and minute thirty time split to the two in front. To my surprise, as I rolled through checkpoint 3 I saw Dave in front of me. My decision to ease up early seemed to be paying off. But my hopes of a top three were short lived. By the time I passed checkpoint 4 I had Jim Mayer, Mr. Quarq, breathing down my back. He must have been the one that had been stalking me all day. Back to 4th place.

Jim too was just straight out-climbing me. With nobody in sight behind me I put it in cruise mode, downed some more Skratch Labs and heading into the finish. The final descent was uneventful, I rolled in 18 some minutes down on Cameron who set a new course record at 3:27. I would better my time by 15 minutes over my singlespeed time two years ago, finishing in 3:45. Big props to 5-O first timer Brad Auen for bringing in a top 10 at 3:54.

Finally on the top step at the 5-O

My 4th place overall was good enough to win the 40-49 age group and I finished knowing that I couldn't have done any better on the day. I gave everything I had on the climbs, descended strong and just barely held off cramping.

It's been a great mountain bike season, 4 wins and a second place. Hard to not be happy with those kinds of results. Now on to cross season, but more on that later.

Best one woman support show in the biz, I owe it all to her

The Spring Campaign, That's a Wrap

It's officially summer and that means that the road and mountain bike season are officially done (for me anyway), and I can crawl into the 662 Realm service course man cave and not come out until the cool temperatures of 'cross are nipping at my toes.

Even though I raced the last three weekends I'd already greatly decreased my training volume to give my mind, legs, heart and lungs a little rest before turning things up for the 2012/13 CX campaign. Here's how the last three weeks went.

Moorehead Mayhem, Ida Grove, IA

Leading out lap 1 with Cam Kirkpatrick and Ryan Feagan
Photo: Don Poggensee

I was stoked to head back to Ida Grove for IMBCS race #3. One of my favorite courses along our Missouri Valley corridor. The race was pretty straight forward. Led lap 1, tail gunned the lead group of five on lap 2 analyzing where I was faster, attacked and counter attack with Cam on lap three, and slowly pulled away to take the win by the finish. For the first time I felt like my fitness level was actually on par with Cam's so I could gain time on the techy bits and maintain it on the fitness sections. I continue to be impressed with new comer Brad Auen. For a first year Cat 1 the guy is killing it pretty much everywhere.

Ponca's Revenge, Nebraska State XC Championship, Ponca, NE

Photo: Jeremy Cook

As always, Ponca never disappoints. Anne and I turned it into a camping trip. I couldn't believe how much crap we forgot to bring. Luckily, Rafal and Megan picked up the slack. Good food, good fire with old and new friends. I love my road racing but you can't beat the pre/post race camaraderie of a good mountain bike race camping trip.

With a good rain shower about an hour before the start of the Cat 1 race I was happy because I would really be able to take advantage of my bike handling skill but nervous as hell because my tires were definitely not mud worthy. I took the holeshot in front of Kent McNiell and Greg Shimonek. It was slippery and the course neutralized everything. The bike handlers couldn't descend very fast and the fitness guys couldn't get good traction to lay down the power. One thing I did manage to remember was toe spikes and as we approached a three tier steep climb we had to dismount. I made quick work of the run-up and had a big gap over the Kent and Greg. I went deep running so I soft pedaled most of the remainder of the lap and Kent and Greg came back up. As we went through the start finish nobody else was in sight. With Kent in 30-39, Myself in 40-49 and Shim in 50+ we all just rode tempo as we had a clean sweep of all the State Championship medals. Eventually, Kent would up the tempo and Greg lost contact. I opted to just sit on Kent's wheel and ride it out. Guess I was thinking more about 'cross season because the fire to fight Kent for a position that didn't really matter just wasn't there. We rolled across the line nose to tail. Anne made it 3 for 3 winning the Marathon again. She's on her way to another solid ride at the Dakota 5-O.

Triple State Champions
Photo: Jeremy Cook

Babcock Memorial Road Race, Nebraska State Championship, South Bend, NE

After spending virtually no time training for road races (at least not 70 mile ones) I made the last minute decision to stay put and race in Nebraska. With Lucas Marshall, Greg Shimonek, Paul Webb and myself all racing Cat 1/2 we had a solid shot at some really good winnings. The plan was simple, do as little work as possible for the first 30 miles then call it out on the road. I like playing captain on the road and calling the race as it happens. An early move went with Shim and Lucas in it which forced the CPC guys to chase hard. They brought them back close enough to jump across. Once I got there though the break lost its pace and we all came back, groupo compatto. Soon after, Cat 3 teammate, Brady Murphy rolled off the front. They move inadvertently forced Kaos to the front, first with Matt Farnham, then with John Rokke. The chase went on for over 10 miles and I got to play tail gunner some more.

The final break
Photo: Dan Farnham

Finally with 2 and half laps to go, Kevin Limpach attack on the main climb out of the valley and I told Jonathan Wait to go with him. They were quickly joined by Lucas, Rokke and Cody McCollough. I waited patiently for the gap to open up and when it reached the sweet spot I jumped hard and went across. As soon as I caught the lead 5 I jumped again to try and shell anyone who might have been on the edge. Joe McWilliams came across with me and it looked like we had an established move. We traded blows for the next two laps but I soon realized I was short on hydration and beginning to cramp. My only goal now, make sure Lucas wins the 1/2's race and Jonathan the 3's. I'd planned to lead it out for the two of them but as we rolled just inside 500 meters Joe came over the top of me with Rokke and Kevin in tow...with Lucas on the tailend. I'd told Lucas to leave the sprint late and that's exactly what he did. I could see Lucas with his hands up, mission accomplished, with Jonathan second overall. I managed to get by Joe for 6th overall as well. Pretty damn solid day if I do say so myself.

Left it all on the road
Photo: Dan Farnham

Cat 1/2 Podium L-R, Joe McWilliams (Alegent Health), Cody McCullough (Powerade), Lucas Marshall (Trek Bicycle Stores of Omaha), Kevin Limpach (Alegent Health), Mark Savery (Trek Bicycle Stores of Omaha)

The spring campaign was pretty rewarding. Three wins and a second on the mountain bike and 2 wins on the road. Can't ask for much more than that.

So now what? Well first off, I've got about 15 lbs. to lose before 'cross season which means starving myself and riding lots of easy miles. I'm planning on spending a fair amount of time on gravel. It's great low gear, high torque riding, very similar to the kind of power you need for 'cross. So that's the next six weeks. Then the fun really starts with proper intervals. Good times just 12 weeks away, CX!!!

Wednesday Worlds

After taking 3 weeks off from Wednesday Worlds it was nice to get rolling again at the pointy end of the bunch. A few weeks away seemed to help me out a ton, I needed the time off. Too much riding hard. I metering my efforts pretty closely as the ride, for me anyway, seems to be either too hard for too long, or too easy for too long. Last nights pace was just about perfect.

It was super fun climbing up Hummel from the steep side. I hope we keep doing it each week from here on out. The severity of the climb really makes you pace yourself and teaches you your limits before you pop. And the technical descent helps you work on your handling and cornering technique.

It was also cool because different groups of riders had different routes they could take. Anne and some of the other ladies climbed over Calhoun Rd which was a tad bit shorter so not only did they get to regroup with us in Ft. Calhoun but also at the Florence Mill. It was nice having the fresh faces in the group to ride back into town with.

Double mountain bike weekends coming up. Tomorrow is the IMBCS race in Ida Grove at Moorehead Park, then the Psycowpath, Nebraska State Championship race at Ponca State Park the next. Two super awesome, super fun places to race. Then it's time for some serious down time from racing and full on prep mode for Cyclocross season.

I've already been working on body conditioning for about 3 weeks. I've haven't been able to stay focused on any off-the-bike program before. It seems to be working as my core strength seems to be getting better. Hopefully it will pay dividends in the closing laps of each race.

Hard to believe that in a couple weeks the days will start getting shorter and CX season will be getting even closer. The hot days of summer are still to come, time to barrel on through.

A Balanced Attack

It doesn't happen very often but every once in a while everything falls in its right place. When it does, you just have to sit back and enjoy every last second of it, because it may never happen again. That's how I felt this past Saturday at the Platte River State Park Battle Royale. I consider this to be the premier mountain bike race on the Nebraska calendar. The trail has a little bit of everything and definitely rewards the well rounded rider. Like it's always said, "You can't win the race on (fill in the blank), but you can sure lose it". That's kind of what Platte is like, there is no one spot where you can ride away, you have to be steady over all of it, but one mistake on any given section can cause you big headaches.

After learning my lesson about early attacks at Swanson where I had to hold off a very hard charging Kent McNeill, I decided to play Platte a bit more conservatively and let the race develop a little. It was going to be a tough day. Warm and humid, hydration would be key. I opted for more hydration than I've ever used before. Instead of starting with two large bottles for the two hour event, I decided on 4 small bottles one for each half hour lap. Keeping the bike as light as possible grabbing a bottle each time through the start finish.

Although not a huge fan of Lemans style starts my long CX legs do have an advantage. At the whistle, I slotted in 4th behind teammates Greg Shimonek and Kent McNeill with Cam Kirkpatrick in third wheel. All the guys I felt like I needed to keep an eye on in front of me. Behind us it was Kevin Limpach and John Rokke with teammate Ryan Feagan dangling off a few bike lengths back.

Greg was setting a comfortable pace, not too fast but fast enough to make the guys behind lose contact on occasion and have to chase back on. As we entered the technical sections of Roller Coaster and Yuntu it began to get interesting. The rock garden in Yuntu always creates some mayhem. Kent dove into the inside line, bobbling, but getting past Greg. Cam got bottled up behind Kent allowing me to get past him taking the middle line. With Kent now on the front the tempo got bumped up a bit and it seemed like Greg had to work a bit harder to stay in contact.

The four of us came through at the end of lap 1 together with Kevin and John not too far behind. I grabbed a bottle, got back in line behind Greg as we headed up the 'dozer cut first climb. Pace was still good and comfortable but I felt like I could go quite a bit faster if given space on the descents. By the time we reached the green gate, the highest point on the course, I decided to find out how comfortable everybody was on the downhills. I passed Kent and Greg and let off the brakes descending through Roller Coaster. I got a decent gap, and just continued to climb at what I felt was the same pace we'd been riding at. I did the same through Yuntu, nailed the rock garden and continued over to and down the Gully. By the end of the lap I had about 30 seconds on Kent and a bit more on the others. To my surprise, Kent's son Dillon saw me grabbing my own bottles on lap one and started giving me hand-ups which was sweet. Thanks Dillon!

Photo: Tom Winfield

I rode the dozer cut nice and steady again, thinking that if Kent caught me, no big deal, we can still just ride smooth and really fight it out on the last lap. I caught little glimpses of Kent here and there with Cam but I couldn't really tell how far back they were. I just kept thinking if I kept it smooth on the descents, they'd have to climb even harder to catch me. The tactic worked as by the end of 3 laps I was a little over a minute up on Kent.

Last lap tactic...pin it. The legs felt fresh so I really wanted to push it. Too many times I've seen or been a victim of Kent's super human last lap charges and I wasn't about to let it happen today. Outside of a slight hamstring cramp climbing the dozer cut I could pretty much climb and descend as fast as I wanted. For once I could truly enjoy the final lap of race with no 'visible' threat from behind. I rolled across the line 2:30 ahead of Kent with Cam, John, and a hard charging Steve Jarrett in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

A minute after I rolled through, Anne rolled in taking the win in the Women's marathon as we pulled off the double/double, wins at both Swanson and Platte. Stoked!

I'd always wanted / dreamed of winning at Platte ever since we first started riding there in 1991.  That's 21 years for you "I hate math" folks. A long time searching for the big "W". The win makes it two for two on the mountain bike this season. The switch to gears has been a good, and fun, decision.

Next up we've got some gravel riding, some road racing, and then some more mountain biking. On the mountain bike side of things I was excited to see Ida Grove is the weekend before Ponca. Been wanting to go back since Nate and I first raced there a few years back. Jesse Bergman has some bitchin' trails built there. Then Ponca, my other favorite Platte/Missouri valley track. Good stuff through the end of June, then it's time to start thinking cyclocross, but then this is all just training for 'cross right? Right!

River City Shootout

I had big hopes going into the opening weekend of the Nebraska Psycowpath mountain bike series. After years of battling in the Cat 1 field on a single speed I finally threw my leg over a geared bike to try and get the job done. Numerous 2nd place finishes had been enough for me, it was time to get down to business.

If felt like the good ole' days of the Sea Otter Classic as I built up my new Trek Superfly Elite just days before the race. I got out on Friday for a shake down at Swanson and got my tire pressure and suspension settings all sorted out. It was my first time using my new Camelbak Charge LR hydration pack too. I'm not a big fan of hydration packs but when you're carrying shock pumps and tire pumps to the trailhead with you they work awesome. The LR in the name stands for Lumbar Reservoir. It's awesome because the water weight is down around your hips, not sitting high up on your back. I'm excited to give it a long run at a Colorado trip later in the year.

The bike felt stupid fast. I was hitting some sections at Swanson so fast I was actually scaring myself a bit. Pure fun.

The field on Sunday was stacked as usual for any Nebraska event. Pro rider and Teammate Kent McNeill along with fellow pro and DSM fast man Cam Kirkpatrick. Then there were all the wild card riders, teammates Greg Shimonek and Steve Jarrett, as well as Kaos rider Kevin Limpach. Any of these guys can throw down on any given day.

At the whistle, Greg took the holeshot into the single track only to stack it a quarter mile in on a fast right hand sweeper. From there it was Matt Gersib, Kent, Cam, myself, with Kevin and Steve on my wheel. We hit marathon traffic immediately and a sketchy pass let Kent by Matt. A little while latter Cam and I were able to get by Matt as well and we were cruising.

The pace was pretty steady that first lap, not too fast, not too slow. As we exited the trail to finish out lap 1 my head said go. I upped the pace through the start finish and went about riding my pace through the trail. Behind, Cam took over the chase which was a best case scenario for me as he doesn't know the trail as well as the other Omaha guys. Soon though I could see that Kevin had taken over at the front of the group and that he even had a small gap.

In times like this I always remember something that Rishi Grewal said back in the day when he was off the front. For the guys behind to catch you, they always have to be riding faster than you. I felt like I was riding pretty fast so the chance that the chasers were riding faster was pretty slim. And sure enough, each lap the gap was growing little by little.

By lap 4, I caught a glimpse of Kent who had now moved in front of Kevin and was pulling away. My gap was up in the 3 minute range (note: not sure where the 3 minute comment came from but looking at the now published lap times I never had more than a minute) at one point but Kent was definitely closer than that. I started to ride pretty conservatively. The 90+ degree heat was taking it's toll and I didn't need to win by minutes, I just needed to win. The last lap was slow and Kent was charging from behind. I eventually rolled across the line for the win, about 30 seconds clear of Kent. Steve trailed in for 3rd ahead of Kevin with Shim rounding out the top 5. Pretty good showing for the new Trek Midwest MTB team. Ryan Feagan finished 7th after pulling double duty as promoter/racer and Cole Skiba finished 12th in Cat 2. Solid start to the year for sure.

It feels so good to have finally won a mountain bike race. The last time I won at the Cat 1/Expert level was 1999. It's been a long time. My body was wrecked. I knew it was going to hurt, the first mountain bike race of the year always does, but then throwing in 90 degree heat pushed it over the top.

Next up is the Twin Bing Classic in two weeks. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Bada Bing, Bada Boom

The blogity blog has been a bit stale. Guess I needed a break. After CX season it was time to hit the reset button. Since then I had some downtime, which felt like downtime but really wasn't. The downtime was followed by a work get-away to Solvang, CA which jumpstarted the spring training and since then I've had a good solid 4 weeks on the bike.

During that time I've actually been reading up quite a bit on training, or more importantly stress and recovery, which I guess is really what training is all about. I've spent a good amount of time reading up on nutrition and basically just being a sponge.

Which brings me to the spring road and mtb season. I wasn't planning on jumping into a road race until the Twin Bing in mid-April but the schedule opened up on Sunday and I was able to jump into the Tour de Husker criterium. I didn't really know what to expect. Rides this spring have been faster than ever and that's pretty much what Sundays race was translated into. The start felt ridiculously fast as Kevin Limpach shot of the line and continued to drill it for what felt like the first 3 laps.

By about third distance Kent and Lucas managed to escape with Lee Baumgarner and Chris Spence which pretty much meant the race was over. We spent the remainder of the race policing the front and with 3 to go I launched an attack that ultimately got Paul Webb away to solidify 5th place. Lucas ended up taking the sprint by mere inches ahead of Lee with Kent in third. First, third and fifth worked out to a solid days work. Jay and I trailed in 9th and 10th.

Up next is one of my favorite races of the year and what I call my home race. The Swanson River City Shootout. The most exciting part is that I'm on track to have a geared bike ready to roll which means I can take a straight up shot for the win. Before on the Singlespeed anything top five was just a bonus. I am planning on skipping Saturdays Time Trial and Fat Boy Criterium. The Time Trial sounds fun but I'm not buying a set of 1.8" slicks for one race and cornering with knobbies on pavement is not my idea of a fun time, sorry.

So here we are, on the cusp of the new race season, go time

Sugar Bottom Scramble 2011

Nineteen years ago I first raced the Sugar Bottom Scramble and each time I go back it's one of the best trails around.

Anne, Shim, Rafal, Noah and I headed east to North Liberty Iowa for one of my favorite races. The trails are sooo fun, you can help but smile the entire lap. I hadn't raced here in two years but not much has changed. Aaron Robnett and I are still battling it out on singlespeeds. I also finally got to meet Adam Blake of gravel fame.

I could almost name this post "Third times a charm" but seeing how I still lost, I'm not sure it would really fit. But by that statement I mean, I finally got my gearing correct on my third off-road race of the year. Although I've raced a 36x20 for three laps before, I opted for the slightly smaller 34x19 for the 4 lap affair. The gear was perfect in the trees but way too small for the middle fire road section we hit twice a lap. Luckily, I'm fine with playing catch up in the singletrack.

GO! The start was just as brutal as I expected. Gearing to small, everyone else too fast, entered the singletrack seventh wheel. Aaron got the hole shot which immediately had me thinking he was in way to big a gear to go the distance. The plan was to just chill for the first two laps, and the pace was just that. After the first singletrack section I leap frogged up to sixth and then up to Shims wheel the section after that.

By lap two, a Mathias Perret was 20 seconds off the front with Shim chasing and me on his wheel. We were still a 5 strong group just flying through the singletrack. As we finished the lap Shim pulled over to grab a bottle and Cam attacked. I struggled to stay in contact on the fire road and entered the singletrack behind Cam and Aaron with Mathias still up front. I got by Aaron and up to Cam and we closed in on the leader pretty quickly. After the catch, the pace dropped and soon Aaron and a couple others were back with us. On the last half of the lap, Mathias accelerated into the singletrack and the three of us finally got away from the other two.

As we started our last lap I knew my only hope was to try and pin it through the singletrack and make up as much time as possible. Mathias had other plans as he jumped Cam and I and took the lead into the singletrack. I managed to get by Cam in the first corner taking a tight inside line. Mathias was riding really slow and I knew I had to get by him but the trail was super tight. I finally got my moment and dove to the inside of a switchback corner. It was a pretty aggressive foot out, two wheel slide but the move stuck and I now had Mathias between Cam and I so I went for it. I opened up a decent gap but Cam slowly brought me back in. I thought we would ride together for a bit but Cam immediately came through on a section of doubletrack and upped the pace. I matched it easily but new the deck was stacked against me as we got closer to the dreaded fire road. As expected Cam dropped the hammer and put a quick 15 seconds on me. I fought hard to bring him back in the last singletrack section but I couldn't do it. eventually finishing 30 seconds down. Another second place.

I felt strong all day and it was the perfect two and half hour cross country race I was looking for. Shim never did get back on after Cam attacked and ended up 6th. Noah and Rafal raced the Comp class and finished 2nd and 7th and Anne finished 6th in Sport. Pretty solid showing. Next up...Gateway Cup, time for some criterium racing

MTB Meyhem at Swanson Park

Photo: Anne Savery

Another mountain bike race, another 2nd place. I just can't seem to seal the deal and win at the Cat 1 Open level on my singlespeed. I've got one more chance this year as we head to the Sugarbottom Scramble in two weeks time. I was excited to hear that the scheduled race at Manawa had been re-located to Swanson, my home track. Better yet, we were racing the loop backwards which made it all the more interesting. I had a couple goals for the day. Mainly, test the body and see how conditioned my upper body and core is going into cross season. It was only my third day on the mountain bike this year and my preparation for the upcoming season doesn't include the 50 mile off-road races I've done in the past. I went with my standby 36x18 gearing that's worked well for me at Swanson in the past.

So off we go.

Photo: Sandra Jones

I had a good start, grabbed Cam Kirkpatrick's wheel and as we entered the trail he let me through into the lead. I'd planned to just follow but being in the front let me set my tempo on the SS. I kept the pace really steady for the first lap and we came through lap one five strong with me still leading the train. The tempo had hurt some guys and it wasn't long before Cam and I were alone at the front. I tested Cam a few times, but each time he came back pretty easily.

Photo: Kyle Hansen

I was beginning to think it was going to be a long day as my choice of gearing was a tad bit on the heavy side. A 19t would have been much better than the 18t I had. Riding Swanson in reverse is a little different. Regardless, I continued at the front through laps two and three until Cam decided it was time for him to check out on lap four. I initially could match his pace but as we hit some of the tighter turns my gear was just too big out of the corners and I started losing ground. After that, I pretty much just put it on cruise control and maintained my second place, conceding almost 4 minutes to Cam. The guy is a machine.

So what of my goal of testing my conditioning? I definitely got beat around a bit. The Swanson trail is super rough. The roots beat the crap out of you and the new entry/exit trail is ridiculously bumping. By the last lap I could feel my kidneys bouncing around inside my torso. I could really feel it in my shoulders too. The prescription, stay on the mountain bike for the next couple weeks, at least one day a week. With that, I should be in good shape, the conditioning comes back quickly.

Photo: Kyle Hansen

Ego Check

Photo: Rob Skiba

Let's just chalk this one up as power training. I've been racing singlespeeds for almost 5 years now. I've made the mistake of choosing to high a gear twice. The first time was 3 years ago at Landahl, being unfamiliar with the course I asked Cam Chambers what he thought. He replied one gear higher than what I'd thought was appropriate and sure enough, I should have listened to myself. I struggled home with a decent result, but one that could have been better.

Which brings us to the 2011 edition of the Battle Royale at Platte River state park. Now let me preface this with the fact that I haven't ridden Platte in over a year, and have only ridden the MTB once in 8 months. I missed out on any pre-ride time and I didn't have past history to go off of as my last race report from 2009 has since been removed from the GF 29er Crew blog. My memory told me I last rode a 36x20. I figured I was lighter and stronger this year so a 36x19 should be okay, right? Wrong.

The funny thing about riding singlespeed, is on terrain like Platte that is constantly undulating, you really need to gear the bike for climbing as you're basically at terminal velocity on all the downhills and constantly freewheeling. All my bigger gear did was make every climb that much more miserable.

It worked great for the first lap. Got the holeshot, dabbed on the first climb and took Shim and Kent's wheel into the singletrack. I was content to follow and see how those two were riding. We had a good gap back to fourth, all was well. As we reached the green gate and the trail pointed down I took the lead back from Shim. I think it was about half way through Roller Coaster when I realized this gear wasn't going to work for 4 laps. I finished the first lap 5 seconds or so ahead of Shim and went about waving them through. All I could do from here on out was try to survive. That first smoking lap was fun though.

About half way through the second lap Cam came through, then Jarrett another half lap later, Clark and Nate (both on SS but one gear lower than mine) another half lap after that. Steve wasn't feeling too well and didn't think his back would hold out to full distance. So by my count if Steve did indeed pull out my seventh place would turn into sixth and I might be able to salvage the day. Sure enough, Steve would actually flat and my pace was just high enough to keep Ryan at a good distance. But man, the gear was agonizingly slow.

Kudos to Psycowpath though for making the last pay position actually worth something. I ended up winning $10 more than my entry fee. I've always felt that the last pay position should always get their entry fee back at a bare minimum. I don't know how some promoters get away with offering less. "Congratulations, you won half your entry fee back!" Huh? No thanks, keep it. So thank you Psycowpath. And thanks to Chris and the rest of the Cycle Works crew for another awesome race at Platte. It's a state championship caliber course but why it's not I'll never know. It always used to be. Now the state championship is just shy of a participation award. Yay!

But that's a whole other post. I'm super bummed Shim didn't pull off the "W", it's been a long time coming but congrats to Cam for putting together another solid, late charge ride. Not sure when I'll toe the line with these fellas again. I'll be gone for Ponca and the other races just don't do it for me. We'll have to see where I land.

Photo: Cycle Works

Photo: Cycle Works

60% of the time...

Time to race mountain bikes.

Shim got a paper route

...and I got to build his news boy bike. Fresh XTR, the whole works. It's pretty nice.

Group Ride!

Things are really taking off. I'm going to say we probably had 20 some folks show up for this Saturdays ride. That by far the biggest weekend ride I've ever been on since moving to Omaha 7 years ago. Apparently Group Ride Omaha is serving it's purpose.

The weekends route was perfect too. Some folks peeled off at Pacific Junction, a few more at Plattesmouth and seven of us carried on to Louisville. The final push into a cross/headwind after 75 plus miles worked us all over.

I was pretty trashed by the end of the day. I definitely wasn't giving the pain. But that's what really makes these rides awesome. There is a different strong man every week, so you're always getting pushed and getting stronger and stronger.

When we rolled into Aksarben Village our average speed was dead on 20mph. Pretty bad ass and by far the fastest "training ride" century I've ever done. To get my full hundy I had to ride to the end of our street and back.

Sunday I got the balloner for the first time since the Labor Day 5-O weekend. First lap was a little greasy at Swanson but by the 2nd lap it was perfect. What wasn't so perfect was blowing my rear tire of the rim. I've never had a tubeless tire do that to me before and upon further inspection I'm a little concerned how loose the bead is on the rim. I wasn't running excessively low pressure but the tire sealant was far from cured which I'm hoping was acting as a lubricant to assist the bead coming off. We'll see what comes of it.

All in all though, it was a super fun weekend of riding. Two more weeks and we're racing!

The Five-O report: 2010

Post race - looking pretty fresh

The Dakota Five-O is one of those races. More of a festival than a mountain bike race. It goes by the moniker, Race, Ride, Tour. Which is perfect. Hardly anyone walks away empty handed.

This year Nebraska had a huge showing, with riders appearing from every corner of the state. Friends also made the trip from Kansas, Iowa, and Montana. The event grew again in 2010 and filled the 500 rider limit a few weeks prior. Each year I've done it, it's grown by about a hundred people.

The campground is only about two hundred yards from the start, it's by far the nicest campground you'll ever stay at. The MC short bus headed out a half day earlier this year to assure we got our favorite spot. We arrived to the bustling Spearfish City Campground and claimed our spot along the ice cold, spring fed stream that meanders through the site.

The afternoon and following day were spent pre-riding the course, registering, and goofing around the campground. Temps were perfect, we were all ready.

Leading the second group into the single-track

I awoke before my alarm at 5:15 and rode into town with Jeremy and Mike to Common Grounds for a breakfast bagel and coffee. These guys have never let down yet and it's been the perfect fuel for 4 years running. We got back to camp with just enough time to kit up, fill the bottles and do a quick spin. Temp was ideal, in the low the 50's.

The start is one of the more hectic ones. With 4 miles of uphill gravel road it's a study in conservancy. Too fast and you may blow up later, too slow, and you'll enter the single-track too far back and play catch up all day. My plan, stay with the lead single-speeder and test the legs. That man was Dejay Birtch from the Niner / Ergon team. We were also joined by Aaron Elwell and Lucas, as well as a couple other guys. We were the second group on the road. Dejay was spending a fair amount of time out of the saddle which made me think maybe he was overgeared, so I spun by him and latched onto Aaron's wheel. As we neared the single-track I took the lead position in hopes of not getting bogged down behind guys riding in granny.

All alone at aid station #1

The opening climb went really smooth, passed a couple guys and rolled into aid station #1 in 7th overall, 1st single-speeder. The next hour was a blur. A mile or two after station one, Aaron came up to my wheel and passed along a flatter section stomping out a big gear. I would manage to pull him back on the following climb and this would be the trend for quite a while. I thanked him for being my pace moto as I new we were at pretty similar levels having raced together a few weeks before at Rapture in Misery.

We blasted through the Iron Creek Drainage and started some of the tougher climbs on the course. For the first time since I started riding this race, I rode the climb out of Iron Creek. I thought, legs must be good today. But, I soon had to dismount as we started the fall line up to the edge of the canyon rim.

The rim is my favorite part of the course, rolling, twisting with rock gardens and fast dirt singletrack. I followed Aaron most of the way until he blew a downhill corner. I lost him at some point after and rolled into aid station #2 all alone again.

Best support crew on the planet

I rode through the Old Baldy aid station scanning the crowd looking for Megan, Roxy and Sarah. They were right where I thought they'd be and Sarah had my bottles out and ready to go. I came to a slow roll, grabbed both fresh bottles and headed back out, no stopping. My first thought, I just made up 30 seconds on everyone behind me.

Feeling good at aid station #2

I rode the next hour solo. Eventually I was caught by Aaron, again, and a couple other geared guys, right before aid station #4. I'd ride with or around them until the Bacon Station. I was surprised to pass Kelly McGelky who was having a bad day (he'd ridden a 75 mile point-to-point the previous day in Park City.) I arrived at the bacon station and grabbed a beer, chugged it, grabbed a slice of bacon, smiled at the camera and was off. I started choking on my bacon almost immediately as bacon bits shot from my mouth, to bad nobody had a salad in the vicinity.

The new single-track was awesome. A rocky ridge with awesome views. I wasn't sure how big a lead I had but I was riding a little tentative so I wouldn't puncture on the jagged rocks that littered this section of the trail. By the bottom, we were back on familiar fire road and the last climb of the day. I'd been swapping positions with a couple geared guys but you can imagine my surprise when I topped out the final climb to see a single-speeder come by me.

Jake Kirkpatrick had been chasing me all day and with 9 miles to go had finally caught up. My mind immediately shifted to "how can I beat this guy" mode. The scenario was a tough one. From here on out the trail was almost all downhill. I stayed glued to his wheel and watched his style to see how he was riding. He looked comfortable, good enough, plenty of time left.

As we continued to descend he began looking a little more rattled. I had one opportunity to pass on the singletrack where it widened slightly. After that, was another mile of single-track before the final 4 mile blast down gravel back into town. The plan, take the lead, try and open a gap on the trail and then let my extra weight and momentum carry me away down the gravel.

I made the the pass as planned but what happened next washed it all away. I must have punctured when I went off-line to make the pass. At the next corner the front end felt soft. The next corner I almost ate it. I thought to myself this couldn't really be happening. After a couple more close calls, it was obvious I was going to have to just keep him behind me. The tire was holding but with only about 10 psi in it. I blew the last tight corner and he got by me, exiting the single-track about 5 seconds in front me. My only hope now, catch and pass him on the gravel. In a full aero tuck I caught and slingshoted by him but he was able to get sucked along and stay close in my draft. My final undoing would be a downhill 90 degree paved corner. I had to slow way down to not roll my tire and that was it, he was gone, game over. I'd roll in 31 seconds behind him in 4:00:19, 2nd place single-speed, 8th overall.

All in all, I'm super stoked. I rode as hard as I could and didn't show any signs of cramping until the very last paved climb heading across to the finish. I've flatted in my last two races now, something that is very out of the ordinary for me. So I still have some unfinished business at the Five-O, we'll have to see where things go next year. I have to say a big thank you to my sponsor/employer Midwest Cycling-Trek Bicycle Stores and to all my travel mates, it was easy rolling.

Post ride

Beers with Smokey

Dakota 5-O Short

Awesome weekend in Spearfish again. Full report and hopefully some images to come later this evening. I had a great day on the bike, 8th overall and 2nd single-speed in 4:00:19. Here's a quick look at how some Nebraska folks finished up...

Ryan Feagan 15th/29th 4:25:25
Matt Gersib 31st/57th 4:45:21
Mike Miles 11th/??? 4:53:00
Rafal Doloto 44th/95th 4:58:44
Jeremy Cook 60th/132nd 5:19:01
Scott Showen 21st/133rd 5:19:35
Todd Eyberg 77th/171st 5:33:27
Casey Lundgren 84th/184th 5:40:53
Chris Wolff 29th/251st 6:11:30
Jon Hood 110th/259th 6:12:54
Anne Savery 12th/274th 6:21:31
Alex Sanchez 119th/284th 6:27:54
Andy Keffer 23rd (40-49)
Will Wolff 16th??? (20-29)
Damon Wagner ??? (SS)

Lucas Marshall - Mechanical
Robert Thornton - Mechanical
Dave Averill - Crash, I'm so glad you're not hurt, gnarly

Didn't get a photo of the men's 20-29 results and these were all the names I recognized. As you can see all the Nebraska peeps rode super solid considering there were over 500 starters. Congrats to all!!!

Rest Weekend

Not much happening in my realm this weekend. After two weeks of pretty intense racing and another one coming up I opted out of the Psycowpath race in Norfolk. Congrats to Kev on the W. For me, it was seated sprint training and shoulder carry practice on Saturday followed by an easy road spin out for some bacon on Sunday with Anne and Lucas. Hooked up with KW on the way out and MW and Butch upon arrival. F1 in the afternoon with Jer. Yep, pretty good weekend, now it's prep time for the 5-O. Word is they filled the 500 field limit and they'll be staging the start this year by category. Things will be interesting.

Madison...Day 2

So after the downpour that was the Centurion 50 Wisconsin we awoke to road grime stained clothing and blurry silt laden eyes. After a quick run to Wallgreens for some Dawn and Oxi-Clean all was right in the world of white kit.

Monday brought about the official start of Trek World and everyones favorite, demo day. The crew loaded up the short bus and we set out to pick up the two big guys at the airport and proceeded out to Waterloo.

We were greeted with a serve yourself Qdoba lunch and full racks of every high-end Trek & GF collection bikes you could ever dream of. Most of the balloners were out on the trail so we all grabbed Madone 6 series SSL's and hit out on Wisconsin dairyland chip seal county roads.

Before I get too deep into things here I must say that last year, I wasn't too impressed with the 6 series Madones. Hence my choice in 2010 of a GF Cronus. I found the Cronus much stiffer and more responsive, and the fender mounts were a nice added feature. The 2010 6 series felt so sluggish I actually stopped to make sure my brakes weren't rubbing and my tire pressure was okay. That was then, this is now.

The new 6 series SSL is a totally different animal. Gone is the sluggish feel, replaced by a crisp road feel but with a little bit more compliance than my trusted Cronus. I won't get into the fine details of materials and all the other little ins an outs. All that needs to be said is that once again, Trek has raised the bar and created yet another excellent handling, stiff and responsive bike. The added compliance of the SSL could be down to a couple things (1) The SSL's seatmast frame design or (2) carbon hoops. Both reduce road vibration individually, even more so in tandem. Round two.

I've never ridden a full blown TT bike. One word, amazing. You cannot ride slow on this bike. It begs you to ride faster and faster and that's what we did. Scott, Jay, Bryan and I all grabbed a bike and headed out. By the time we were out of town, Jay, Scott and I had fallen into a full steam ahead team time trial. The Speed Concept has such little frontal surface area the bike literally disappears underneath you. In a paceline, all you see is body, no bike, and that equates to pure speed. I don't need one, but I sure as hell want one. In addition to easy speed, I couldn't believe how well the bike handled in cross winds, very stable, no doubt thanks to the Kammtail airfoil design of the tubes. Round three.

The last two years I've taken out news boy wheel, Top Fuels. Each year I come back with the same opinion, they don't roll as fast as 29ers and have too little traction for my taste. It's an awesome bike, just not my style. The handlebars felt like an F1 cockpit, shift levers, brake levers, lock-out levers, basically a ton of stuff going on. Brakes controlled with your index finger, shifters controlled by your index finger and thumb. lock-outs controlled by your thumb and knuckle, which way do I push / pull? Give me a 29er.

I spoke with god yesterday afternoon

He said it was cool with him if I wanted to start riding bikes with gears. Actually, I wasn't at all surprised that god made an appearance at the 2010 edition of the Rapture in Misery 6/12 hour. The trails are awesome, and awesomely technical.

After spending the night in St. Joe, Anne and I arrived to a steamy venue as the the morning sun cut through us. It was going to be a long day of racing from noon to six. I've only attempted one other 6 hour solo race and that ended at about three and a half hours. I hoped today would be different. Looking around on the start line and the only guys I recognized were Aaron Elwell and Jeff Winkler, two really fast guys. The plan, pace off of them and see what happens.

Pics from JP Brocket

As the horn blew I got a decent run to the bike and slotted in about 7th or 8th wheel. The double track prairie start made it pretty easy to move up and I entered the most technical piece of singletrack, the boneyard, in 5th wheel. The pace was comfortable and nobody was trying anything crazy this early. As we crossed the dam and started the first big climb of the lap I had no choice but to keep my gear turning and push by taking the lead. So there I was, up front, no idea what was coming up, just spinning along in my 34x21. Aaron and another guy from a two man team would eventually join me as the team rider took the lead. Aaron and I proceeded to chat about the latest word from Leadville content to sit on the wheel.

At the end of the first lap I pulled into the pit to grab a bottle as I chose only to run with a single bottle. This let Aaron get about a 30 second gap on me. No problem, five plus hours to go right? By the mid-point of the 2nd lap, Aaron was coming back into sight and as we started the last switchback climb to end the lap I was back on.

Second time through the pit and Megan was ready for me. Bottle in hand. Awesome surprise. I had her toss me a dry pair of gloves and as I rolled out of the start/finish area I caught Aaron as he pitted too. Back into the lead. Then disaster struck. As I hit the most technical section in the Boneyard I punctured my rear tire. This was my first 29er tubeless flat in competition and I almost didn't know what to do. I had my wheel half off by the time Aaron rolled by and was just climbing back on the bike when Ryan Feagan came by. I was keeping an eye on the trail and didn't think anyone else came by which meant either Ryan was sitting in third or I just missed Winkler. Turned out Ryan was indeed in 3rd and now him and I were riding for 2nd place.

Ryan selflessly let me by and I went about chasing down Aaron. In hindsight, probably a bad idea. For by the end of the third lap I was only one minute off, not bad for having had to fix a flat. However lap four would start to see me break down. The constant jarring of the rocking trail was taking it's toll on my arms and back. I started to take precautionary measures and began walking the climbs. At the end of 4 laps I took a big break. Drank some peach mango coconut water, doused my body and wiped down with ice water, basically tried to refresh myself. I rolled out of the pit and through the checkpoint, now a minute thirty behind second place rider Travis Donn. I thought, minute and a half, I can get that back. Not so much. Across the prairie and every bump shook like an earthquake through my kidneys. By half lap I knew this was going to be it. The hands felt like they were beginning to blister, my back was cramping as I tugged at the handlebars and all leg speed was gone. Instead of gaining back that minute and a half, I lost another two and a half. Once again my 6 hour event turned into a four and a half hour.

As the minutes ticked by I watched as my third place ultimately turned into a 5th by the end of the day. I managed some consolation by posting fastest lap on lap 2, a 46:41. Mike Miles killed it, coming in as the best Nebraska finisher taking 2nd in the under 29 group. Ryan topped me taking 4th in the 30-39. Rafal finished 7th, missing 6th by just a minute and a half and a Nebraska 4, 5, 6 sweep. Anne stomped out another great Crowder race finishing 3rd in solo female. Trek KC and Omaha native Ben Perkins rocked in an awesome 2nd place finish in the solo 12 hour. Ryan Cech and Brandon Harpster battled a couple flats to take 4th in the 12 hour duo, losing the final podium spot on the last lap, not bad for two guys who've never ridden at night before.

It was, as always, a super fun weekend of racing and camping. I'm really looking forward to the 5-O.