Lately my inkling has been leaning towards a feeling that’s hard to put into words. I have gone rogue. I have gone Samurai. I have gone Cimarron. I have gone Lone wolf. I have gone solo.
When it comes to cycling there is nothing truly new under the sun. Sure new technology and fabrication methods are introduced, but long story short, no matter what; it’s still a person on a bike. All the first riders of the tour de France where the original off road century single speed riders. Because back in those days, there were no gears and some of the mountains they ascended and descended were yet to be paved.
And like the tires that we cyclist ride upon, the challenges that we seek seem to come in cycles. Off road Endurance cycling has grown beyond any ones imaginations. 24 hour mountain bike races are more popular now then ever and with the addition of 12 and 6 hour formats, even novices are braving the temptations of the long haul.
That’s where my focus and shift has been averted. I desire the punishment, suffering and rewards that are obtained from the long ride. Ultimately I desire to participate and qualify for overall awards in the NUE, the National ultra endurance mountain bike series. 100 mile, mostly off road races, that draws my attention and desire to compete.
These types of events are going to require a different level of preparation then I have done in the past. Currently I’m in my “Base Miles” phase of my training. And I think the most effective thing I could do to prepare is off road base miles. Sure its easy to take off on the road and ride a long distance, but its entirely different and a lot tougher to put together long off road rides.
January of this year presented and excellent opportunity to do several long off road distance events in succession. It started the 13th with the Tour de san Felasco, followed by the Ididaride on the 20th, then the six hours of carter road on the 28th, preceded by the croom 50 February 3rd, finishing with the 12 hours of razorback on the 17th.
Now I have done the “Tree Fiddy” before; which is the 3 off road challenges that mostly always equal out to more then fifty miles and offer a level of suffering for the unprepared. In the past I have taken frequent breaks during the ride, and ridden hard and suffered cramps. This year, I wanted it to be different so I took a different approach. In order to be able to ride a bike off road for a very long time, you have to find a pace that is easy and sustainable. Instead of riding at 90 percent, I chose to ride at 70 to 80 percent. And what I discovered was the ability to stop only once during the entire ride duration and not suffer any cramps, a complete, total and amazing break through.
This all led to my first 6 hour solo racing event at Carter Road park in Lakeland Florida. The goal was to do as many laps as possible in 6 hours. The person who did the most laps wins. Pretty straight forward, but still something I had never done before. The start was interesting enough with a potato sack 50 yard dash to the bikes. The day was chilly and wet. The first mile was on a dirt road, that had become a mud road, due to the resistance of the mud, it gave the feeling of pedaling up hill even though it was completely flat.
The loop was six miles long, and after three laps, I must admit that I was tired. I felt beat up, riding a cylcocross bike through rooty trails, tends to be a bit punishing, especially after several laps. Right around the three hour mark, I had totally lost count of the laps I had done and I had totally grown tired of the event. And that is when I discovered something amazing. Endurance racing, is about Enduring. As silly as it may sound. The key to being successful is to ride, until the pain stops and the body becomes numb and the effort seems effortless. I discovered that the longer I rode, the faster I went. There were a couple of laps in the middle that I was going slow, but moving nonetheless. While my competitors rested, I rode, pedaled and rode some more. In the end I turned out 10 laps on a six mile course, which was good for 12th place.
A couple of weeks later Trevor and I, headed up to Razorback to practice the 12 hour course. After one lap on my cross bike, I was beat up and tired and dreading the prospect of racing a week later. But come race day, I swallowed my fears and lined up to battle. The course was tough and had lots of climbing. After two laps, I was smoked, but I kept going. After lap three, I started number four and had the chance, if I made the cutoff to do lap 5. Early in lap one; I had problems with wheel rub on my frame since I was running the fattest tires I could to help absorb some of the trail impact. On lap three my headset came loose and I tightened it. Towards the end of lap 4 I had to do the same. Racing to make the cut off was a hard but fun effort, but I made the cut off and sat in the transition area for a good ten minutes tinkering with my bike. I had the headset as tight as I could and it was still a little loose, and it was making a very scary popping sound when I turned it left to right. I guess a fully rigid cyclocross bike was not the best choice for the course that razorback offered that day. I walked off the course at that point, abandoning the fifth lap for safety reasons. The last thing I wanted was to be going downhill and have my top tube separate from my frame. 52nd place out of 75 people and one more lap would have only netted me a 6 spot improvement.
My journey is not done, the battles have just begun. As I continue to prepare, I have had my cross bike repaired and purchased a new bike to help in my samurai warrior battle against the single tracks of this planet. Keep your eyes open for more stories as I keep striving toward my goal. Till then, stay smooth, stay fast and wash that ass!
When it comes to cycling there is nothing truly new under the sun. Sure new technology and fabrication methods are introduced, but long story short, no matter what; it’s still a person on a bike. All the first riders of the tour de France where the original off road century single speed riders. Because back in those days, there were no gears and some of the mountains they ascended and descended were yet to be paved.
And like the tires that we cyclist ride upon, the challenges that we seek seem to come in cycles. Off road Endurance cycling has grown beyond any ones imaginations. 24 hour mountain bike races are more popular now then ever and with the addition of 12 and 6 hour formats, even novices are braving the temptations of the long haul.
That’s where my focus and shift has been averted. I desire the punishment, suffering and rewards that are obtained from the long ride. Ultimately I desire to participate and qualify for overall awards in the NUE, the National ultra endurance mountain bike series. 100 mile, mostly off road races, that draws my attention and desire to compete.
These types of events are going to require a different level of preparation then I have done in the past. Currently I’m in my “Base Miles” phase of my training. And I think the most effective thing I could do to prepare is off road base miles. Sure its easy to take off on the road and ride a long distance, but its entirely different and a lot tougher to put together long off road rides.
January of this year presented and excellent opportunity to do several long off road distance events in succession. It started the 13th with the Tour de san Felasco, followed by the Ididaride on the 20th, then the six hours of carter road on the 28th, preceded by the croom 50 February 3rd, finishing with the 12 hours of razorback on the 17th.
Now I have done the “Tree Fiddy” before; which is the 3 off road challenges that mostly always equal out to more then fifty miles and offer a level of suffering for the unprepared. In the past I have taken frequent breaks during the ride, and ridden hard and suffered cramps. This year, I wanted it to be different so I took a different approach. In order to be able to ride a bike off road for a very long time, you have to find a pace that is easy and sustainable. Instead of riding at 90 percent, I chose to ride at 70 to 80 percent. And what I discovered was the ability to stop only once during the entire ride duration and not suffer any cramps, a complete, total and amazing break through.
This all led to my first 6 hour solo racing event at Carter Road park in Lakeland Florida. The goal was to do as many laps as possible in 6 hours. The person who did the most laps wins. Pretty straight forward, but still something I had never done before. The start was interesting enough with a potato sack 50 yard dash to the bikes. The day was chilly and wet. The first mile was on a dirt road, that had become a mud road, due to the resistance of the mud, it gave the feeling of pedaling up hill even though it was completely flat.
The loop was six miles long, and after three laps, I must admit that I was tired. I felt beat up, riding a cylcocross bike through rooty trails, tends to be a bit punishing, especially after several laps. Right around the three hour mark, I had totally lost count of the laps I had done and I had totally grown tired of the event. And that is when I discovered something amazing. Endurance racing, is about Enduring. As silly as it may sound. The key to being successful is to ride, until the pain stops and the body becomes numb and the effort seems effortless. I discovered that the longer I rode, the faster I went. There were a couple of laps in the middle that I was going slow, but moving nonetheless. While my competitors rested, I rode, pedaled and rode some more. In the end I turned out 10 laps on a six mile course, which was good for 12th place.
A couple of weeks later Trevor and I, headed up to Razorback to practice the 12 hour course. After one lap on my cross bike, I was beat up and tired and dreading the prospect of racing a week later. But come race day, I swallowed my fears and lined up to battle. The course was tough and had lots of climbing. After two laps, I was smoked, but I kept going. After lap three, I started number four and had the chance, if I made the cutoff to do lap 5. Early in lap one; I had problems with wheel rub on my frame since I was running the fattest tires I could to help absorb some of the trail impact. On lap three my headset came loose and I tightened it. Towards the end of lap 4 I had to do the same. Racing to make the cut off was a hard but fun effort, but I made the cut off and sat in the transition area for a good ten minutes tinkering with my bike. I had the headset as tight as I could and it was still a little loose, and it was making a very scary popping sound when I turned it left to right. I guess a fully rigid cyclocross bike was not the best choice for the course that razorback offered that day. I walked off the course at that point, abandoning the fifth lap for safety reasons. The last thing I wanted was to be going downhill and have my top tube separate from my frame. 52nd place out of 75 people and one more lap would have only netted me a 6 spot improvement.
My journey is not done, the battles have just begun. As I continue to prepare, I have had my cross bike repaired and purchased a new bike to help in my samurai warrior battle against the single tracks of this planet. Keep your eyes open for more stories as I keep striving toward my goal. Till then, stay smooth, stay fast and wash that ass!
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