WORS #2 Crystal Lake Classic

(Sums up how it went)

First race of my mountain bike season and I wanted to stick close to home so what better place to do it than rip up some singletrack in the WORS Crystal Lake Classic?  This would be the first time in about 2 years I had the stomach to line up in the elite field in a WORS race like this.  I wasn't alone though.  Jesse Lalonde also made his return except he did it better, and on a fully rigid singlespeed in which he would cross the line in 3rd where as I came in 51st.  

I wasn't sure about my fitness going into this race.  I've put in well over 20 hours more compared to this time last year, but the catch here is that I am running a lot more this mainly cause of coaching a great group of long distance track kids at the local high school.  In addition to that I am really trying to play around with my heart rate and see if an experiment will shake out like I think it will.  Short of it is, I put in more time than last season, but a lot of it is running yet still a 65/35 split in favor of the bike.  

Anyway, I get to Rhinelander on Saturday and immediately unload the bike and hit the course.  I put down and easy lap at around 42 minutes which I thought was really low key didn't feel too labored except when I wanted to open up the lungs, but that's where it all ended, I just didn't realize it yet.

The week leading up to the race I experienced very little rest time.  I found, while looking back, that I really set myself up to train right through it.  Monday was a long hard ride up to Hazelhurst with really some good motivation to keep it about 19.5mph by my lonesome on the cross bike and did just that, but wait there's more.  Monday night I get to track practice and run a good 5 miles.  Tuesday I did take a day off of riding but headed up to Minocqua for the GNC Meet there I did a lot of standing for long periods of time, running around getting time splits and whatever else that needed to be handled so that the kids could do what they do best.  Wednesday it was back at it again except this time I had no practice that night so I did 2x20min efforts at atp which ended up being 172bpm for number 1 and 178 for number 2...ouch.  Thursday was an ouch as well with a hard ride into practice followed by a hard mile effort followed by 600m @ 800m goal pace with a mile warm up and cool down plus another hard ride home.  Friday was no different except this time I (dare I say it) drove into practice in which we did 200m intervals after a 1 mile warm up and a cool down when done.  Saturday was the pre ride and then comes Sunday.

A friend of mine who was the former boys head track coach and I were discussing the fat tire illness we both shared and all of the expert knowledge we've gained since coming down with this bug called mountain biking.  We equally agreed that we are now educated and in turn educators in the field of meteorology. I swear I must have checked the weather about 25 times before driving over there Sunday morning and again when the rain showers I predicted didn't show up and/or were tardy to the party.  All looked good and I thought the gods may have spared us after the collective pleas to not have an Iola moment again this week, at this point we would be laughed upon by mother nature herself....oh how funny that broad can be.

I get to the start after my warm up, I was concerned about the concrete that didn't want to seem to leave my legs, but knew full well that there have been times where the body plays tricks on you and shows you that there is much more life in those legs than one would think.  This was just not one of those days.  I actually got off the line quick (thanks cyclocross practice), I was ahead of a few people I am not used to seeing, but this wouldn't last long.  My heart rate was blowing up 1 beep, 2 beeps, wait....3 beeps, at that point I know I am above 180 and there it stayed and when the dust settled before the first climb and disappeared, so did I....off the back.  I felt heavy, had a hard time taking deep breaths, but tried so hard to chase on, but just didn't have squat on any climb so I lost a ton of time, I mean I should have gotten off and ran every one cause I know it would have been faster just nothing there.  It wouldn't get better, however, as I started on round 2 I was well off the pace and it didn't help that it started to poor down rain and hail.  I used the Maxxis Ignitors and wow did they work.  I couldn't believe how well they gripped this watery, sandy, mud like substance, but the chain suck I wasn't too thrilled with.  It forced me out of my comfort zone and happy cadence that I thought would shake my legs loose so that I can stop riding like a wal-tard, since, now all I was left with was my big ring (I had it in the dog, for those fluent in 24 Solo) I actually started riding a little better legs started coming alive a little bit and way too late to make a difference during round 3, round 4 dumped more water on us and at this point it became a question of do I make this a workout and just see if I can put in a couple of decent efforts or do I save the bike???? Well I figured the sand already did it's damage so I pushed on and got the finish.  Not a W, but I didn't give up and refused to let a little poor planning and poor weather ruin my day.  

Post race bike repair turned out to be a non issue, cleaned up really nice nothing to replace.  Score the 5th round and that score card to me.

So the judges scored the bout in favor of.....ME

Round 1:  Me -  Good start not a terrible lap time.

Round 2:  Crystal Lake Classic

Round 3: Crystal Lake Classic

Round 4: Me - Character Builder for sure pushed through it and got Metal!

Round 5: Me - No physical damage to me or the bike....big plus.

Training through this race was not on purpose, but a good learning experience.   See ya at the Big Ring Classic in Wausau.

Thanks to everybody that is supporting my adventure this year.  TwinSix for allowing me to Metal before I went mental, GoPro in which one day i'll live stream this stuff when they release their wifi backpack, Infinit Nutrition for not being able to have the excuse that my nutrition is the reason I was slow Sunday, Sprocketz Bike Shop for selling Niners that handle the mud and rough terrain, Hayes Bicycle Group for the flawless prime pros....dude!!!!! they are awesome.  Rudy Project muddy conditions new lenses no scratches just the way I like it, I even found a pair on the trail and being understanding of their value and cool factor I made sure they found their way to their owner who I actually knew....karma should be showing up at the big ring.....I hope.  

Good Night Suckas!

Fools Only Run @ Midnight

Normally, since this is a cycling blog and everything, I would be talking about the first few rides of the year or first couple of races.  And while I did race this past weekend it wasn't on the bike.  In order to understand this I have to rewind back to February where I inquired about coaching track for a grant that I was eligible for to give back to the program and started down that path in March.  I found out early that running can still be fun...for me and just as rewarding as cycling as it is what you make of it.  So training and working with these kids did make me a little faster and I decided to test my new found fitness at the Fools Run up in Minocqua this past weekend.  

The race started at midnight April Fools Day, in the dark, cold, and by the time we hit the course fog and mist covered the 5k route.  I lined up front ahead of over 1000 additional racers wearing everything from Mario Brothers costumes to a speedo.  The gun went off and we took off on a series of immediate right and left turns and then down a long straight stretch of road.  Early on there was a large group of 20 runners flying down the road, but I would begin to pick them all off one by one except for a couple that just got away and some dude wearing a banana suit that slowly pulled away as well.  The course was dark and even with headlamps it was hard to see because of the fog, but the streets were lined with paperbags with candles burning inside which added a cool touch to the event.  Coming up on the first mile checkpoint it was well lit which made things interesting cause I could see my shadow in the trees along with a bigger shadow of what looked like 10 other racers working to chase me down like a rabbit, but as each minute passed that shadow would get smaller and smaller and I would look back and see no one there.  Finally we hit Hwy 51 again just out from the brewing company and I can see someone a couple hundred feet behind me trying to chase me down, but tonight wouldn't be his night and I pulled the April fools joke of the race giving him the perception that I was fading and with about 800 meters left I took off in a pace I would run that same distance in during track and held that gap to just over 5 seconds and had that race been longer he may just have caught me. 

I had thought that there was one guy that busted the race wide open, then the guy in the banana suit, and then me.  Turns out one other person came through and their chip didn't register..... on top of that the course was measured out at just over 3.5 miles so I think my overall time of 21:44 wasn't too shabby and 4th place overall out of 1037 runners was excellent for this early season race.  I did manage to win the age group of 30-39 out of 58 runners. 

It was a great time, excellent course, and fun to spend the race with Sam who did her first 5k that night as well.

Next race for me is going to be the RASTA Rally up in Rhinelander the weekend before WORS.

Until then I encourage you all to...
DO EPIC SHIT! 

Still Around and Very Busy

I am still around.  Still training, getting bike stuff together and renewed my passion for running.  I've been on a huge running kick lately mostly derived from coaching track.  Some aches and pains developed and then went away now it's getting fun like it used to be.  Yeah sure I still get some pain here and there, but it's running and yeah there is some impact involved.  Time will tell when it all starts to click again but feeling like a breakthrough moment occurred last night.  Fools run is coming up on the 31st that will be the first 5k of the year.  I am hoping to break 19 minutes but i've never raced this course and especially at midnight so we'll see, but the work is definitely there.  I actually have a few 5Ks scheduled this year due to the fact that they are so close which is nice when it comes to the family.

Oh and this biking thing.  Well the time is adding up nicely after my lovely trip to GB is finally old news I can continue to regain my biking form.  One thing that helps is the fact that I am 10-15Lbs lighter than at this time last year.  That my friends is encouraging.  I've got some races scheduled, curious how my  rev limiter (aka: heart) will allow me to perform with all of this running above the 180 mark.  I have some thoughts about where I want my racing to take me this year, but I don't plan to reveal any of that till later on.  Got some new wheels being built by grandmaster Greg and now the family is completely outfitted with bikes including Charlee even though she is about 2" too short to stride away, but she wanted to and gets how it works so now we just wait.  Thanks to Sprocketz for getting us all set up for the season and congrats to Sprocketz of Weston for being named the Wausau area's best bike shop.

So that's it for now.  See you in Iola, maybe I'll ride or maybe I'll just run and play with the camera or all of the above!

  

Come Get Some!

If you would like to get your hands on one of these jerseys and support the trail project in Bradley Park, Act quickly this is a one time run with orders and payment due no later than April 13th!! an assortment of goodies will sure accompany these jerseys thanks to my gracious sponsors.

For questions, interest, pricing, sizing, etc please email:

hogsbackcx(at)yahoo(dot)com

2012 Jersey Draft

Here's What I'll be Rocking this year.  Some Minor Tweaks and I'm all set.  Thanks to Patrice and company at Jakroo!!!

Thanks for the support this upcoming season

Infinit Nutrition -  Watch here for exciting new stuff I am testing!!!

Hayes Disc Brakes - Prime Pros are on the way for real this time!!!!

Sun Ringle, Manitou, Answer

GoPro - for my new Kick Ass HD Hero2,

TwinSix - for allowing me to be as metal as I want to be

Rudy Project - Love the new shades and the photochromic lenses

Tomahawk Mainstreet and Tomahawk Chamber of Commerce -  for supporting the Hogsback Race to be held again 9/29/2012!

2011 Hogsback CX Highlights

Date for the 2012 Hogsback Cross Attack

Good News!  We got the date for the 2012 Hogsback Cross Attack V2.0

Save this date to your calendar....9/29/2012  (world isn't supposed to end till after this so plan to attend....HA!)

We've moved it to an earlier date for 2012 to coincide with other area events and cycling schedules throughout the state. (minus the WCA Cyclocross series which is impossible to schedule around since they have races every Sat/Sun starting around that time anyway)  Only conflict is Bear Paw WORS Race, but seriously that's on Sunday Sept 30th...the hogsback is on Saturday September 29th and not too far out of the way especially if you are from the great white north. 

The 2012 version 2.0 will have have a revised start/lap/finish area on the road just down the hill from the sandpit swingset.  Since the weather should still be somewhat warm we are including a few additional things.

- 50/50 Hill Climb TT (I think we'll just call it Helltrack TT) - 50% to the winner and prizes to round out the top 3 in both male and female categories (if you think the equalizer is bad try this one on I may just name it Helltrack for the fact that the race has virtually a wall in it and resembles this very much just longer.)

- Post race party till park closes at 9pm at the cabin (more details to come on that later)

- Kids race will end the day after the "A" Race finishes.  This will be followed by the Hillclimb Helltrack TT.

- Different pricing schedule for 2012 is also in the works.  Something to the effect of race in as many as you want for a flat fee, family rate, and first timer fees.  So much more to think about and get set up, but very excited for it.

If you happen to know of another cross race being planned for 2012 up north (from Wausau to Duluth let me know hogsbackcx@yahoo.com , I am working to put together a UpNort CX Triple Crown Series as well which could be interesting.