Kirt Rocking it at Waway

Waway. Clapp meet me at my house & we headed up to grab Iggy in Booton. Always better cruising up with people just makes the whole day more complete. Got there early enough to take our time getting ready & warmed up. 

Lap 1

The prologue had me a bit worried but it turned out to be a non-factor. Hit the double track about 2/3 back from the front. The 1st little rocky up & the group is off & walking. Jump back on & decide I need to make a move, really lots of moves. I guess at this point I decide to just go for it. Lap 1 would be my make or break lap & second would be the try & hang on lap. I'm being super aggressive, which is not normally my thing & passing a bunch of people. Finally settle in behind Esteban who I know is always up there in the end. Hang on his wheel for a while, even pass him after Outlook. Didn't last long as he runs by me on 1 of the slimy ups & is gone. Felt good while it lasted. In sitting Bear I get a glimpse of Victor, new target. Get to about 30ft off him close to the S/F & decide to fuel up before I try & make the move. 

Lap 2

Eat my gel (must bring the flask next time, just so much easier) pop a few Sportlegs & I'm off chasing him down again. Climbs & fireroads are uneventful. Come up on JimV at 1 point & crash trying to catch him, ouch #1. Back on the bike & I'm now chasing Jim again. Catch & pass him at 2 Bridges & then he passes me back on the next climb. I try to hang on which is a good thing as he pulls me to within 20 feet of Victor, bad thing is as he passes Victor, Victor try's chase Jim down, big gap again. Damn. We finally get into the ST & I pass Jim 1st as he's off on the rocky up. I'm clean on both & I close to the back of Victor's wheel. I'm riding clean & he is not so he just tells me to pass. Ok I'll take it because my legs didn't want to try a pass. Next I pass Mandell who's off the bike. I had decided at that point I was going to walk the Outlook climb as the cramping is getting worse. Get there & look back & Victor is closing. Damn I have to ride it now & I actually make it. Man did it hurt. I was so spent I crashed on the next rocky DH right in front of TomH (the bike patrol guys), ouch #2. Get back up & keep plugging away. I get to SB & the cramps are starting to get really bad. Mandell rides my wheel for a bit & finally passes. I stay with him until the last climb (MattyB's hangout) & he's gone as are my legs. I'm toast!!! Hit the end & couldn't be happier it's over. 8th out of 25. 2m off 7th & 3 off 6th. Not unhappy with that at all. All the faster guys beat me. I felt like I gave it everything I had & more. I'll keep working hard & hopefully can close the gap a little more each race.

Great seeing & hanging with everyone. I agree the whole scene was so much better with the format change. Congrats to Utah, Alex, Patty, Allison, Eric on the podiums, you guys earned it.

Eric's Completely Fabricated Wawayanda Race Recap

Sun: Waywayanda

Aside from 2 short track races in March this was going to be my first real race effort for the year. It's been a busy few weeks so I wasn't quite sure what kind of form I'd be in when the horn went off. Also, this was going to be only my 3rd XC event ever (raced KVSP the past two years on a 26" sofa pillow with less than stellar results). Oh, and I rode a mountain bike maybe 5 times max during 2010 and 2011. Nonetheless I had set high expectations for myself. Like as high as you can set them. Probably not realistic but they say to visualize success, right?

So how'd it go? Honestly all I can remember is that I got on my bike, felt like I was going to hurl for an hour, got off my bike. Instead I'll just make up a totally fictitious recap.

Warmup looks something like this: Stand around shivering in spandex for about 2 hours pushing the stroller while Allison is out racing. Brad is kind enough to poke sticks into the child's eyes while I ride a few hundred feet to warm up. Allison finishes her race, congratulate her, hand off the child and go ride a few hundred more feet. 

Knowing that I want to be the first wheel or two going into the singletrack I pick a great spot in the staging area right at the back of my field. Horn goes off a minute after the 30-34 guys and were off. Weave through the pack and hit the road section in 5th and the voice inside my head says: "go to the front Eric. Pull everybody up the road and burn yourself up." So I do. Dumb. 

Hit the first climb in the lead with some guy right on my wheel. Figure it's a whole train. By this point we are deep into the 30-34 field and weaving through traffic like a truck driver high on a handful of cheap amphetamines. Finally look back and it's just one red dude and me and we've but a big dent into the field. Bobble a rocky section before the bog and red dude passes me then proceeds to go back to the future--full on 88mph-in-the-delorian style time warp. He puts about 20 seconds into me in as much time. At that point I know I'm racing for 2nd unless red dude ends up getting into a fight with Biff at the prom and his mom falls for him instead of for his dad. 




Middle of the race is a complete blur and I feel like just getting off and going for a hike instead. Asian dude that I know is in my field passes me on the fireroad which lights a fire in me. Shaved legs + nice calves = Roadie. Murder. He's off his bike on the next technical section but passes me again on the next climb and I think he's gone. Now I'm hurting again. At this point Lance has made his way up to me as I'm fading. We trade places for the last 5 miles. I gap him then drop my chain. He gaps me and I burn a match to catch up and so forth. Good battle. 

Utah said during our Tuesday pre-ride that it's not about riding the technical stuff fast, its about being smooth. In cross my mantra is slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Somewhere during the race I decided that sloppy and erratic would be a better strategy and I proceeded to crash in spectacular fashion at least 3 times on sitting bear. One of the crashes dislodged my rear wheel from the dropouts. Another crash stopped my bike dead and somehow I was able to eject and land on my feet running downhill for about 20 yards. Like I said, smooth is fast, right? 

See Lance about 10-12 seconds ahead coming up on the last hill but I've got nothing left. I figured 4th place but Asian dude cramped somewhere and we passed him without knowing. 3rd. Podium. Not quite where I wanted to be but I'll take it. 

Lessons learned. 1) Technical stuff looks a lot different at race pace. 2) Technical stuff is a lot harder when you can't see straight. 3) You need to ride a mountain bike on technical stuff if you want to be able to ride it fast. I feel like I have the fitness at this point but I really need to channel the flow.

I'm flying back from Japan the evening before Jungle which should put me in top form to crush it there.

SSaP - The view from Utah

From the one and only Utah; Taken directly from his blog on MTBNJ:

I feel that this race is kinda the start to the mountain biking season for me anyway. Its like the opening memorial bbq that starts the summer off. Anyway, as the previous 3, the course was awesome and the vibe is usual dark horse "out of the park" fun

Something new and really nice was the early packet pickup. Last week Norm and I were able to get our numbers at the shop and not have to run around before the race. This was really nice. Got out of the car, got dressed, got on the bike. Its perfect for someone like me who has severe "cant STFU syndrome"

This will be the first real test for my new carbon MT-056-R2D2-C3P0-XR4TI frame. I have been riding it a bit, but in races, all bets are off. I was hoping it would survive the beating. Plus it would be rolling on my new carbon utah/oishi wheelset. I felt confident on all of this stuff, but until you give it a real bench test, you never know. All set, ready to go...5lbs lighter than my karate monkey I used last year...somehow the hills still hurt though, go figure.

This is a true frank-n-bike. Fork is from lous old cannondale, brakes from my scalpel, cranks from my 09 stumpjumper, among other things. The guesses people had on the frame yesterday were pretty funny. A few people believed me when I said Jay got me a prototype cannondale frame and they didnt have time to paint it  

So anyway, the race. Start warming up with norm...we did a couple laps though the first section of ST. Then we head and realize that they already called everyone up and we are in the wayway back. Thankfully the ladies were nice enough to let me get in line with Pearl and my friends....But at the start, we were still pretty far back. 

I think about 30 sec into the start I got pegged in the eye with a stone and I said "F this" im out of dust cloud. I started weaving my way though like an ambulance driver. Finally I pull up next to fred and ilya and we sit a few guys off the front. James Harmon was setting the pace. This section is almost comical....we are all at near max speed and pretty just hanging out. 

Get to the turn in, look down and we have averaged 19mph thus far...dam, didnt feel that fast. I settled in behind Fred, Ilya behind me. We were probably around 10th or so. My plan was to see if I could just stay with fred for a while at least, then not melt down when he pulls away and drops me. 

Fred pulls us though the prolog and then following ST section like a champ. Pace was just perfect. We break out onto the road with the leaders up maybe 50yrds, 3 behind them, then me and Ilya. This was just awesome, its one of those race scenarios you always hope for...In a good spot and with your teammates. 

We stayed right together with fred leading the way until the first walk up climb. The 3 guys in front of us all walk...I try to do this, but I cant...I make a light jog and go around these guys and get to the top first. We soon link up again, but now its just me fred and ilya. On the next run up, Sean Cavanaugh rides by me as i walk. Impressive for sure, but I know my back would have exploded if I tried this...not happening. Ilya and I soon track him down and its somewhere around I dont see fred anymore. Which was a bummer because we were having such a good together. But I figured he would be back. 

Me sean and Ilya then start working together and pushing each other. Its working so well. Im not feeling that lull that happens sometimes when you're alone and trying to find motivation to kill yourself. We were taking turns leading in different sections... then finally out on new road, Ilya took over and threw down an awesome battenkill like pull at the front. We can still see Roger up ahead and he is now alone, maybe 30sec up or so. This is good for us. We discuss amongst ourselves how absolutely awesome it would be if we could track him down and its really helping us working together to move faster. 

Got to the top of scofield on lap one, look down and see that we are ave. 13.9mph at this point...holy hell! On the downhill I lead and try to hold the pace at "tumbling boulder" 

Finish lap 1 and sean tells me "we lost your buddy"...I look back and Ilya is gone. Sean think he rolled his tire. This was a bummer, we were working really well together and this would now get much harder. I lead though the rocky ST and out onto the road, look back and Ilya has made it back to us. SWEET!!! 

We still see roger and every time we do, we just hit it harder and take turns pulling though sections. Sadly somewhere on the horse trail, sean flats and has to drop out of our group. Now its just Ilya and I. Were pretty sure were doing well...maybe like 7th 8th? No idea though...but top ten for sure. I knew there were guys in front of Roger, but i didnt know how many. 

Second time at the walk up...I step off the bike with Ilya and instantly my calfs start cramping as I walk....I had to jog a bit as the walking was not going to work. Ilya soon catches back up and we roll over to Luke. I asked him how we were doing and he comes back with "4th place, roger is 70sec ahead!" HOLY SHIT!!!! The two of us were now totally stoked. Top 5 with probably 30min to go. Probably not going to be able to track down roger, but I WANT that top 5 so there is no way im going to let anyone else catch us. Thus we keep on it. Hit the next walk up and I again have to jog to fight off the cramps. I put a little space on Ilya here, then again with the next short run up. 

The remaining ST I switch to my best TT mode, put my head down and grind. Back out to new road for the long stretch to scofield and I hit the climb as hard as I can hoping to maybe get lucky and see roger on the other side of the hill....Nope, he's gone. Hit scofield and just tried to hold the pace until the end....just cant wait to get to the finish line and confirm that I actually did pull off a top 5....because I still cant believe it! 

Roll in and Roger greets me with congrats, as do james and josh who finish 1/2. Maddawg looks as stunned as I do and is wondering how he missed the other 12 guys who finished before me lol. He asks for a piss test, but my lawyer tells me to decline. Soon Ilya comes in, followed by Fred....True team effort if there ever was one. Reminded me of the great time I had last year with Bill and Norm at the DH40 and how I wish every race could go like these did. 

Very big thanks to Fred, Ilya and Sean. Fred absolutely prevented me from doing anything stupid at the start and helped me settle into a solid pace. Then sean, Ilya and I just kept each other motivated trying to track down roger. It was about as fun as a race gets. 

I must also give a special thanks to my mr miyagi, Norm. The "paint the fence" and "sand the floor" stuff might sound silly and mundane sometimes....but do it and make a point to do it correctly, dont ask questions and you see the results. 

Im thinking this is probably my greatest bike racing effort to date.

Of course no DH race is complete without an after party and this one was better than ever. Cake for James Pearl, Norm plays Chris Berman and interviews me for sports center...great times!!! 

And the home brew bike and wheels....If ever I put a caining on a bike, yesterday was that day. I beat the holy hell out of that thing for 27miles and it got me home. Love this thing!!!

Singlespeed-A-Palooza - The Day After the Hangover

Now that all the beer cans are cleaned up, hot dog breath is brushed out, dust is our of our pores and blue tape is wrapped up in the garbage bin, we can discuss what an awesome weekend the boys at Dark Horse Cycles put on. If you are reading this you already know how big of an event this is. People travel from all over the east coast to throw down on some of the best singletrack NY has to offer. If you haven't ridden Stewart, you need to get out here. If you haven't raced a Dark Horse event, you really are missing out!

The last two years offered wet conditions and some sloppy riding. This year brought dust from the fire roads. The dry conditions brought smiles to faces and pain to legs. I personally have never gone this fast on my mountain bike before in a race.


The race is ultra competitive with such deep fields. Sure you remember the race and remember the super fast singletrack, but what is more memorable is crossing the finish line and hanging with 250+ like minded people you just shared 27 miles of racing with.

Robin had a mechanical and was the first one to the keg!

The Maddawg himself and Sport NJ Winner Mitch

The Scene

Jeremy, Jay and The Birthday boy

Open Menu Podium with Fred, Utah and Ilya 4th-6th

Bunch of MTBNJ regulars; Martin, Mitch, Dustin, Chris and Jay in Sport NJ

Look at that smile!

Fred and Jake really know how to enjoy each others company.

A Cake presented to Pearl for his birthday from George, Mayor of Dark Horse himself.

Ilya and the rest of the people who stayed around for the festivities got to enjoy some cake.

Team Results

Open Men
4th - Utah Joe
5th - Ilya
6th - Fred
14th - Norm
25th - Jeremy
27th - Iggy
38th - Chris26er
41st - ChrisG
43rd - RobG
44th - Woody
45th - Pearl

Sport South Men
10th - Capers
12th - Matty
14th - Jake
30th - Brad
Some reason Shaggz is not on this list. Will update.

Sport Women
5th - Dana
7th - Patty
DNF - Robin (Bending chainrings!)

Here are all the results, just incase. Throughout the week we will let you know how the races went, stay tuned.

Battenkill: Ben's View

Last but certainly not least is long time race veteran Ben. He was in the cat 3 class with Fred, and like many, just before and through Meeting House was a tough spot in his race. This is the last of the 4 part Battenkill wrap-up series. Hopefully these series wrap-ups will be an ongoing theme in 2012 for the team.

I got up to Saratoga Springs on Friday in time to enjoy dinner and relax. My race began at 10:10 with Fred. Looking around the start, I knew only Fred and a Van Dessel guy, Zebulon Nelesen. Fred points out one of his CX buddies that I should look out for. I couldn't get too excited about that. There are about 120 guys to look out for.

I was comfy and riding among the top 20-30 for nearly 50 miles. Went just below my limit up Juniper Swamp Rd. I knew that would be required so I was just happy to have it behind me. I was just ahead of a small gap at the top but it all came back together quick.

The middle portions were non-eventful. 4 guys attacked going into the feed zone. Three joined them soon after. Knowing that was dangerous, a few racers including myself convinced others to pick up the pace. That group was likely off the front for 20 minutes before getting reabsorbed.

Through the middle of the race, we were catching dropped riders from earlier racers. There was a little confusion. Guys were barking about a break but the pace car was just ahead. Next time I look ahead and the pace car is gone. Two guys got away and I thought they were random riders from other races. That is one of my few gripes about this race. Towards the end, there are bodies everywhere.

We hit Wrights Rd which was a left turn onto a dirt climb around mile 44. I went straight to the limit knowing that the day was going to end for many at that point. I struggle over the top to hold onto wheels with about 10 guys in front of me. The next bit is a blur. A large group of +/- 30 riders reforms during a flatter portion of that climb. As we approached the second feed, things got strung out single file and I couldn't maintain it. As I entered the second feed zone, the group was exiting with a few riders dangling off the back like myself.

Other dangling dropped riders and I, made our way through Meeting House Rd. just ignoring each other. We were all suffering in different ways. I seemed to be the one struggling most going up while making up ground on flat and down portions or that rolling dirt road. I felt the heat hit me like a wall. 

I recall cresting a rise and then descending on pavement towards a right turn. Three dropped riders were coming together about 10sec ahead of me. I look behind and see no one. Fvck, I need to close this gap NOW or I am done. Knowing the guys would slow through the turn, I busted ass and counted on some cornering skills to make the gap. I was going fast enough that I got nervous and the race marshals looked like they were about to crap themselves.

I catch the small group and we begin working. Some guy comes out of no where from behind and helps. One guy is not contributing so we begin a rotation and do our best to keep him from screwing up the effort. The lead group is just a 1/4 mile away. What a friggin tease! We work together as well as dropped riders can and were actually making up ground. It was actually very entertaining and suspenseful.

As the covered bridge adjacent to Stage Rd. came into site, we genuinely thanked one another for the effort and said, "Good luck!" I was literally 100' behind the wheel van as we all hit Stage Rd. Unfortunately, the lead group consisted of the best in my race or more rested riders than I who had been drafting. I had been working near my limit for 25 minutes [I]leading up to[/I] Stage Rd.

Once on Stage Rd., all bets were off. The leaders turned themselves inside out. The remaining riders in that pack were able to continue faster than me. I hate to say it but my goal was to be in that group at the base of Stage Rd. Then it would have been [I]mano a mano[/I] and I would earn whatever result I got.

I made it over Stage Rd. as fast as I could but only passed guys from other races. I dive bombed the descent after. Passing guys so fast I couldn't tell if they were in my race or not. On the flat run in to the finish, I was behind one of my chase companions and could not real him in. I turned myself inside out. Felt the tell-tale signs of cramping begin in one hamstring.

I finished 32nd of 107 starters. 3:10 behind the winner. I was expecting to be in the top 30 and was hoping for a top 20. 32nd is close enough. I would have been bummed if I had just gotten dropped and rode the rest in without a fight. As I said, the chase was pretty entertaining. I was pretty happy to make up ground on the approach to Stage Rd. As my tires went from pavement to dirt on Stage Rd., I knew they were all going to ride away from me again. I just put my head down, found my happy place, and rode the rest out.

You can see from my HR data where my race blew up at mile 45. I popped off the back about 1/2 way up that climb in the profile. My HR drops slightly as I form the chase. The remainder was just everything I had left.

Battenkill: A Picture (of Ilya) is Worth...

Battenkill: Old Rob's View

First Maurice, then Capers, and today we have Rob, the older of the Robs on the team, thus the name. After surprising himself the year before with a 6th place finish Rob was eager to get back and improve upon that. But as with many things Battnkill-related, nothing is as you expect it. If nothing else, this is the race that keeps you guessing. 

This is a really tough recap for me to start. I have so many different ways of looking at this that I feel like I have a pinball banging around the inside of my head. I felt like I was pretty well prepared for this based on my experience of what the race was last year in my group. Right off the bat this is lesson 1, “EVERY race is different, even if it is the same class, venue, weather etc, you can not assume that the effort and dynamics will be the same”. :Last year was my first time up there I was really surprised at how tame the pace was in my group on the flats, except for 4 guys that went off the front after the first major climb. Other than that it was a controlled climbing race and who could out last the next guy and the groups just got smaller and smaller as it went on. Well this year was the opposite. I’ve gotten ahead of myself already.

Friday I made sure I was hydrating a lot as I saw that temp was going to be around 68 and felt that this was going to be a factor. Because of this I got up like 3 or 4 times in the night to pee. Got up early and didn’t feel like I had a fantastic rest but really not that bad. I do normal routine stuff, stretch, dog stuff, etc and go to bathroom one last time before I head out. While in the bathroom the light goes out. I figure the bulb just blew but get this weird feeling like that scene in Apollo 13 when the guy is in the shower the morning of the big launch and his wedding band comes off and goes down the drain. I comfort myself by thinking that although a lot of crazy shit happens between that scene and him going to outer space and getting back to earth again everything turns out ok. Get out of the bathroom and realize that the power for the whole house is out. Ok this is strange.

Take my stuff out the front door instead of the garage as opener won’t work of course and head over to Paramus where I am meeting Jeff (Gratefulrider) and will ditch my car and go together. He makes the trip go fast by good conversation and also doing like 90 the whole time except when slow down to pee 2x. His BMW suv thing is smooth. I think we got there in like 20 minutes even though it should have taken 3.5 hours.

We pull in to park next to some Tenafly guys I know and the 4 of us reg then back to cars for a really slow prerace routine as Jeff’s race is in like 2 hours and mine in 3. I eventually get my stuff on after eating a little bit, Jeff is ready before me and rolls off. I am very indecisive on what to eat ( major mistake?)I then roll out just to coast around and look at the start area and then over to the finish and expo. I see Zach Coop right after his finish and he is sitting on his bike with his legs dangling down and leaning against a pole in pain. He says his both legs are cramped and he can’t move. I give him a few sportslegs that I had in my pocket and made a friend for life. With an hour to go I head back to the car, eat a clif bar and drink some more, and do my pre race warmup on the trainer. I feel good and my heart and legs are responding and I feel I have good power with less perceived effort actually. I’m thinking systems are a go. Get race ready and head over to start with about 20min to go.

Watch the women pros go off while talking to some of the guys lining up for my race to try and get a read on people. I don’t recognize anyone from last year. We roll out behind the pace car and I can feel the front group coming into shape and who will likely be doing most of the work. Pace starts to build much quicker than I expect so early but I figure some of these guys may just be feeling it out. Within minutes I get hit in the face with a big black bee that I guess is a wasp and it gets stuck in the small space between my helmet and glasses and as I quickly pull off my glasses to give it room to escape the bastard stings me right at my eyebrow over my left eye. Next time I will hit myself with a tennis racket and knock both of us out. I let out a couple of choice words and the guy next to me asks if I was ok and if I was allergic which I am fortunately not. It hurt though and I felt with my finger like there was something in there and got it out and see blood on my fingers. Great. Now I am just hoping it doesn’t swell up and or affect my vision, which fortunately does not.

Through the covered bridge I’m in the front few and nothing really changes just the same guys up front taking unorganized turns although pace is still much faster than last year. A few guys ride off the front a little for no reason and no one even discusses it. They all wind up in the back at the next climb. Finally at Juniper things get more exciting and pace picks up a lot near the top and I am right there and this is the move and I am right in the center and we are gone. About 7-8 of us off the front and we drop the pack like a rock. I am working but nothing crazy and wasn’t even like the super hard Rocket Ride sections in my mind. I do my share of work and am cautious of not overdoing it however totally out of the blue after a while on a very minor rise in the road I feel a twinge in my right calf. Alarm bells and whistles go off in my head screaming DANGER DANGER, I’m like WTF???? I have never ever E V E R cramped on my road bike. EVER. Of course on the MTB I have and it was always hydration issues so I instantly started downing my bottles thinking it must be the issue. I am unsure though because I drank a ton the day before and all day. I start hiding right away to conserve and loosen this up very nervously. I am more than a little concerned as they come and go but eventually the calf seems ok. About 30 mi in we are climbing and I get a twinge in my right upper quad climbing muscle and now I am really concerned. I feel it contract a couple of times and feel that it is going to lock up on me and I have to back off about 50’ from the top. And there they went. I get over the top and it is a long rolling section that even though I try and think I can hammer it I know I am not getting back on and the gap gets bigger and bigger. Train is out of the station.

I know we had a big gap on the field but I am thinking this is bad. 32mi to go and I have to manage my body totally different from normal. I do 12 miles solo in the wind and then on a flat dirt section 5 guys come up on me and say join on. At that moment it felt like an oasis in the desert. I hop on and say thanks by telling them how many and how far ahead the leaders are hoping that will count as payment to the cause rather than take any pulls. We go for awhile and on another climb we lose 2. So the 3 of us crank on through the worst of the bad dirt road sections. I tend to be the fastest downhills and get ahead but that’s only because I am looking for every bit of help from gravity I can get. One section where the dirt was super loose and washed out, (you know the kind where you don’t really steer and just let the bike go where it wants to) my momentum carried me all the way across the road onto the grass and I just rode on the grass. The 2 guys I was still with followed me on the grass and thought it was intentional and said that it was a great idea. I didn’t tell them I didn’t get there on purpose.

Approaching that double tiered dirt climb that crosses a road the stronger of the 3 of us moves ahead and I can’t stay on his wheel and neither can the other guy (in green). I think he realizes he is doing all the work and that we were not going to be much help anyway. I see him go over the top as green guy and I start to climb it. My quad starts twitching really bad here and when the second tier starts I am feeling it increase. Then right in the middle of that second tier BAM! Full out mandatory Alcatraz style FN lock down. Can’t move right leg but somehow get my foot out of the pedal and get my foot down without tipping over and just stand there afraid to move while grinding my teeth. I grab my quad and it feels like concrete. There were some spectators and a woman runs over and starts to tell me to walk it off but I know if I move a smidgen right now it will be worse. I ask her to fill my bottles as she has a big Poland spring bottle. I don’t move for about 4.5 minutes (according to my Garmin) and finally it releases and I can walk. She tells me if I can just get to the top there is a downhill and recovery time afterwards. I walk to the top and eat a bunch of gels and wash it down with almost a full bottle and remount.

While in lock down mode I notice a few guys pass me but I have no idea if they are my group or some of the previous that we had caught when I was in the lead group but truthfully I don’t care. I am just trying to figure out how to finish this without another massive lock up like that as it is terrifying to me. I still have decent power amazingly when on the flats and can carry some speed. I make it to the last feed station and toss all my bottles again and take a bunch of the green ones at the top of the zone. Now all I can think about is Stage road and how the F am I going to make it up that without cramping. I am with a couple of guys at this point and I shift into my easiest gear even before the climb starts and they take off up it. I concentrate completely on just turning the pedals as easy as I possibly can and amazingly I am passing people who had attacked this and are blowing up. I even see a guy zig zagging the road. I get to the top and I am just so super happy to not have cramped. Coming down the other side feels great and I am really relieved. When the road straightens I can see far in the distance the green guy from before and I know he is in my group. I watch him from a distance and realize that very slowly but surely I am closing the gap on him. 

I get in the drops and concentrate on maintaining the best pace I can and although he is still far off I am closing on him. When I get within a couple of hundred feet I am just hoping he doesn’t’ turn around. I get about 20’ behind him and ease up a drop because I don’t want to get on his wheel and turn this into a final spring as I am not sprinting, no damn way. But I am thinking I don’t want him riding my wheel either and passing me at the end so I stay back a bit and then increase my pace so that when I pass him it is fast enough that if he doesn’t see me coming he won’t be able to surge and get on my wheel. This goes exactly as planned and I am dangling like 20’ in front of him and I hear him shift and breathing hard but I keep him off my wheel and I basically outlast him to the finish.

11th place in 3:25, this is 10 min faster than last year even wth the near 5 minute stop.
I am still trying to figure out my cramping issue. Now I think it ended up being a serious nutrition F up and I was carb depleted. I felt a significant change after downing those gels and heading into Stage road. I did not eat enough “real food” the day of the race as it was really tough timing with the early drive, the drive itself and then not wanting to eat a real meal 2 hours before the race and feel like I was full. I also reviewed my Garmin info and even though that fist 1.5 hours had a pretty hot pace and my HR was pretty up there for a road race especially, I never really felt like I was even close to the edge. This definitely was not like one of those times where you are riding with much faster people and you say to yourself, no way can I maintain this I predict blow up in x minutes or seconds. My perceived effort did not feel at the max. The next day my entire body felt like it had been through the ringer. This is another clue that it was not just legs getting tired. In fact my legs aren’t even super sore today except where I think my groin muscle got a little tweaked during the big lock down cramp. So we live and learn yet a little more….

The takeaway: so this is the part that I am now really kind of confused about. Last year I knew that my plan for this year was to make sure that I was ready to go with the breakaway group which I was and did. However the irony is that (yes this is Monday morning quarterback talk) had I just stayed with the pack and outlasted others (like last year) I would have likely wound up with a similar or possibly better result actually with a lot less pain and suffering. Granted my time would have been slower. I guess here I am making the same mistake and assuming again that next year will be just like this year which was supposed to be lesson #1 in the first paragraph. I do fully understand now why the pack stays together in these kind of races the same way Zebras do…. Survival.