Cowbell Challenged

After such a detailed search for the right tires to ride in muddy conditions, (amazingly it turns out the weathermen were wrong yet again!), the course was as dry and dusty as a wagon train heading West. So no worrying about traction for this race.

My day started off very, very early. Up at 4:30 am to get some yummies in my tummy and some good old caffeine down the hatch before heading over to Tony's for the 2 plus hour drive to Davidson. We arrived at 8:15 giving us plenty of time to check in and get our PIT all prettied up for the long day ahead.

We had 6 racers in our PIT, Myself, Tony, Greg, Marcy, and Mark. We also had the best PIT boss, Sara, (my wife). Without her help with the bottle hand-offs and nutrition replenishment I would have been much further down the list of results.

Mucho Kudos for the PIT boss!!!

Back to the PIT...we had 2 tents which provided ample space and plenty of shade from the sun, (again many thanks to the weathermen for such accurate forecasting). Once we checked in and readied the PIT I donned my gear and warmed up a little...not that I was going to race like a Jack rabbit, I just wanted to get some blood flowing to my legs after the long drive.

We started up the road in a mass start with the Pros out front. This created a nice dust cloud once we were under way promptly at 10:00 am. So off we go to see what kind of challenge the Cowbell with throw at me.

First 3 laps I turned in a sub 40 min performance. Then things slowed a little and I started turning mid 40s until my first PIT stop after 6 laps. I just did a quick one of about 10 mins and headed right back out to get 2 more laps which I held the mid-40 pace. So I was feeling pretty good about being consistent with my pacing. Then I Pitted again for about 15 mins. Again just some off the saddle time and some refuel with something I could chew. After a while you need to have something other than liquid fuel. Then out again for another 2 laps. I did number 11 in the mid-40s again.

Coming in the timing shoot I asked what time mandatory lights on was again?

The guy there said 7:30 and after a quick look at my watch I figured I could turn one more before having to PIT and get my lights on. I slammed that one at 41 mins and was feeling a little spent. So I took a little longer in the PIT. Resting, getting my lights on, taking in some water and figuring out if I wanted to pick up another 1 or 2 laps.

My goal was to finish at least 12 laps so anything else was now icing on the cake. Sara, (The PIT Boss), told me that I was pretty close to 3rd place and after a quick check she came back and said I was already in third...HOLY CRAP! I had no idea who the other guy was that could take 3rd away from me so I had no way of knowing who to hunt down. Plus now it was getting dark and I wouldn't be able to find him out there anyway.

I noticed Greg, one of the other guys in our PIT, start to sneak out of the pit to turn another lap. Greg is behind me in the race by about 20 seconds so I know he is heading out to try and lap me and take my position.

I see how you want to roll man...So game on!

I roll up on him after about a mile and hang right where I can keep an eye on him. You see I'm behind him...BUT really I'm in front of him...see what I mean?? So I'm in the perfect position to at least keep my place in the standings.

So now we're about done with lap 13 and the race is called...WHAT? I guess they didn't like the added obstacle of dodging lightening strikes or something. Since I have no reason to conserve anything I just threw it into high gear and decided to blow past Greg and hammer it into the timing shoot....and I did!!

That felt good Greg..sorry!!

Now it's wait time until the last person is off the course so we can see if I place or just go home. Looks like I just go home this time. The guy who took 3rd from me did it by 2 mins and 31 seconds...duhoooow!

I guess I should have shortened that last PIT a little.

Now I know what to expect for next year and I'll be a wee bit more familiar with who's in my category so I know who the hell I'm supposed to chase.

But I had a great race. Loved the venue. See you out there next year!!

Cowbell Countdown

Only 15 hours until the bell tolls, Cowbell that is!

Now that I have all of my gadgets and thingys all neatly packed up and organized according to expected time of use I happen to notice the weather report...NICE? Uhhh...Not so much!

Our friends, the meteorologists, are now saying rain will be upon us way before the race start. I know, I know...why trusts these guys anyway. I mean they get it wrong way more times then they get it right and they still get to keep their jobs. Must be their use of those fancy maps and graphics that secures their employment! But back to how this impacts the race!

Now I need to figure out which tread to throw down on the trail in order to keep my ass on the saddle and my head out of the mud. I don't have too many choices in my quiver anyway so I had to do some research and see what I can find on such short notice.

After some searching I've come up with the perfect tire and accessory that will guarantee plenty of traction on just about any trail condition. So check it out!

I know this will add substantial weight but what good is a light bike if you always end up on the ground.

Think I should get the mud flap package with these? They have those pretty chrome girlies on them!

Swimming in enterococcus

Although we've had a bit of a dry spell recently the good news is that Falls lake is pretty much full. Isn't this great! Now we're able to do the open water swim workout we used to do before Falls had almost dried up last year. Sort of hard to swim in that mud... So whoohooo, right?

But wait there's more!

So Friday I do my first open water swim workout, (at our secret location), in like over a year. It felt pretty good. Until of course I find out that the "legal" swimming areas at Falls lake have tested positive for; "enterococcus, a bacteria normally found in the feces of humans and many animals". Holy shit! Are you serious? I've been swimming in shit?

After hearing this wonderful news I had this immediate need to take another shower....with iodine...or alcohol wipes...or something, yuck!

I think this is a classic example of not being able to "have your cake and eat it to". We have to choose. Do we want to have the option of doing an open water swim, or do we want to have a full lake? You see you just can't have both. If the lake is full...we'll you swim in shit. If the lake is low or empty, you can't swim...BUT, you don't swim in shit! Ahhh, see now your getting it...

Now one last thought! Falls Lake Reservoir is where we get out drinking water from. Ummm good ole H2O!

Return of the dirtdawg

Okay already, so I've been away from the blog for a little while. I know that life getting in the way is just a lame ass excuse, so I'm going with "my dog ate my blog post...no really he did, all of them"!

So now that we got that out of the way shall we move on?

Cowbell is right around the corner. Only three days left to get all of my shit together, clean my bikes, rethink my strategy, plane my nutrition and relax! With a little luck and attention to detail I think I have a fighting chance at accomplishing all except the last one. I'm never able to relax before a race. I'm constantly rethinking my plan, second guessing my training and hoping my bike will fare the race with as little damage as possible. This usually ends up being a lot of worry for nothing but it seem to be a integral part of the racing process.

I had considered taking the "Snot Rocket" in case I wanted to do a lap or two on her but after my night riding incident last Thursday I'm not sure anymore. I mean the bitch totally rebelled and threw me to the ground and damaging herself in the process. It was just a badly bent front wheel. So to teach her a lesson I rode like that for another hour and a half. (You see, what we have here is a failure to communicate....) I think she is thinking more clearly these days but I just can't fully trust here yet. We'll see!

So my plan is to ride "Super G" for this little shindig. I've tweaked the position a little the past few weeks and I'm feeling much more comfortable on this baby. But we'll see how things go after "12hrs in the saddle". Now that's a good name for a MTB race...hummmm. (Welcome to 12 hours in the Saddle) Has a nice ring to it huh? I'll have to talk to my people, tune in folks!

Adventures of the Snot Rocket

Wednesday was the maiden voyage of the "Snot Rocket", (for those of you who have not been following by blog, that means you, the "Snot Rocket" is my Single Speed 29r MTB. Built from new cheap parts, hand-me-downs,  duct tape and puppy tears). 

There are still a few bugs to fix for the position and some adjustment to the front break, but other than those items she has performed well her first time out of the stable. She lived up to the "Snot Rocket" name producing large quantities of the sticky stuff throughout my ride... although the rain and temperature drop probably help a bit!

I did 3 hrs mostly on the double tack and then through Crabtree. The rain started so I B-lined to the gate so they didn't lock me in...geeeeze a little water on the trail and everyone starts to panic...these are mountain bikes folks, they like to get dirty! So lube up the chain and jump in the mud, come on!!

But I digress, sorry about that! 

Overall the ride went well...let's put a check in the success column. I do think playing around with the gearing for the Raleigh are is in order. But I'll give it some time on the trails before making the change. Seems like I can go with an 18t in the rear and still get by around here. But if we head to the high ground for some rides I'll have to slap the 20t back on there...I'm new at this SS stuff ya know!!

Going to camp...Tri-Camp that is!!

This weekend I had the most awesome opportunity to join some great coaches and athletes for a 4 day EPIC triathlon camp. The camp was held in Wilkesboro, NC on Kerr Scott reservoir. This was a great venue for a camp of this type. We occupied a lodge that was right up hill from the dock we would open water swim from. After the 2nd day this hill would become an ass-kicker. Talk of how we could slide down in the row boat...but getting back up was problematic. Or maybe driving down the hill...but that would not be EPIC!! By next year maybe they might have a ski lift installed....uhm..NO!

So day one was mostly orientation although there were a few of us crazies who went for swim just to loosen up from the long drive. The water was perfect temp for a wetsuit. (since I pride myself on being a mediocre swimmer I love the wetsuit)

Day two was an early morning open water swim of about 3 miles. This was followed by consuming mass quantities of food in preparation for the next training session. We packed up the bikes and running gear and headed down the road to the start of the Bandits Challenge race. We went out on the 28 mile bike course which is a pretty tough route. There were some who opted to go out for a 2nd loop but I hit the trail for a run instead. (I was saving my legs a little for the next day's ride. This would turn out to be the right choice for me!!)

After the jam packed day of training we headed back to the lodge for some more consumption of mass calories. We really needed to pack them in to recover from the workouts and be ready to hit it again in the morning!

Day three we had another open water swim of 1.5 or 3 miles...athletes choice on this one! (I opted out of the swim since my shoulder was a little sore and I didn't want to piss it off any more than I had to.) After the swim we packed up the bike gear and headed over to Boone for some riding on the Blood Sweat and Gears bike course. We would be doing an out and back on this one so whatever we road out we knew we had to ride back. (Sometimes that sucks...I mean ignorance is bliss when it comes to mountain climbing right?) We split into "A" and "B" groups to start but that naturally splintered off into "C", "D", "E" and so on. I hung onto the "A" group until I had a flat. Some of the group stopped and waited for me to re-tube and hit it again. so we were now the "A2" group. (no one likes to fall back to the "B" group so "A2" was the new name!!) We ended up doing 92 miles and 8,000 ft of climbing. By my watch I had 4:45 of ride time..(and that included the time to change the flat...NOT BAD...)

After the ride we headed back to the lodge for yet another calorie consumptionfest. We packed back some food man. I loaded a plate with a steak, (that was awesome), salad, corn, bread & butter...and whoofed it down. 30 min later I was hungry again and packing back some of the homemade cookies. (they didn't last long)

Day four we headed out for a long run. My legs were feeling pretty tired after the ride the day before so I figured I would take it easy. This plan worked well until I turned around and was feeling pretty good so just started to hammer back. I payed for this afterwards but doing 11 miles in 1:20 was a great feeling and worth the two days of leg aches I had after. We headed back to the water for a little cool down swim. A nice easy 2K was all I needed and wanted after the amount of training that was packed into these four days.

I split by noon to head back to life but sure wish I could just eat sleep and train like the pros. Can't wait until next year to do it all again!

So What's Up Doc?

Today was the day of my VO2 Max and Lactate threshold bike test! I studied hard all week but I was still a little nervous... "Will I be a fitness failure or would I pass with flying colors?" For those of you who don't know what a VO2 Max and lactate threshold test is check out the Human Performance Lab site and see the real scientific information.

I got to the lab early, (I'm very punctual),  and bring in my bike and gear...get changed and hang around and stretch for the big event! Once we get the bike on the computrainer and hook up all of the data collecting gizmos, I mount and start my warming up. We strap on the heart rate monitor, and check that everything is reading correctly. "Roger Houston, I read you loud and clear".  With a few minutes until the test start I get to don a mask that will measure my oxygen usage. This also allows me to brush up on my imitation of Lord Vador..."Luke I am Your Father"...always gets a chuckle!

So we're off...now I ride in 3 min intervals. After every 3 minutes they test my blood for the level of lactate, (A chemical that is formed when sugars are broken down for energy in the absence of adequate oxygen...not breast milk...ugh, I should have studied that chapter!) They do this by pricking my earlobe and squeezing out a drop of blood. Also, after each 3 min interval the difficulty increases for the next 3 min interval. Oh yeah feel the burn baby! This continues until you're no longer able to push the pedals or you pass out, whichever comes first. (don't worry, you'll most likely stop pedaling before you pass out, really!)

After this 20 min pain-fest you get to spin for a few more minutes to cool down and see how long it takes for your heart rate to return to it's before test level...this is one indicator of your fitness. (the longer it takes to return to normal the more they make you ride...just kidding, this means you have lots and lots of room for improvement) As the songs says..."always look on the bright side of life, 'whistle, whistle, whistle...now everyone sing along...!!

So now you wait for the results to be compiled, charted and graphed for you to take home and study. (So on the next test you can do better, you know...look up the answers you got wrong and all....) Now you have a handful of data that's priceless.

Info you will take away from YOUR test:

Your height (so you know what size pants to buy)

Your weight (whether you like it or not ladies)

Your percentage of body fat (again, sorry ladies)

Your Max heart rate (so you know when you will explode)

Your Lactate Threshold (this is when your legs hurt really, really bad)

VO2 Max (when your lungs stop working and you can no longer breath)

Percentage of VO2 Max (how much of your lungs you are really using)

Calories you burn per minute while working out (so you can calculate how many Krispy Kreme doughnuts you can shovel in afterwards)

Aerobic training zone (so you know how slow you can train)

Threshold training zone (so you know how fast you can train)

Max wattage output (that's just a cool number to know)

I'm figuring I can do about 2 hours of (VO2 max, divided by 3, (carry the 1), times my max watts), and then recover with a box of Ho Hos and latte...I love these results!