The Main Event is Coming Soon!

It's getting here faster than I would like.  Not that I'm not excited for it, I just with I had more time to train!

Silver Rush 50

Leadville, CO
13 July 2013

This year, I dedicated more vacation to staying in Leadville, partly because I am making it a tradition to do these races annually and also because I actually thought ahead enough to get the hostel reserved far enough in advance to ensure that I have a place to stay (and at a reasonable cost).

So this year, I arrived Thursday night in Leadville.  Up to this point I really believed I was in better shape than last year, I felt like I had more long term endurance, and best yet, I thought I could suffer at a new level…  All of which I thought would net me an estimated 30 min PR.

I suppose it’s possible all that is true, but being at altitude 31 hours before the race started, seems to have nullified any increased fitness I may have thought I had…  Conventional wisdom says to go to altitude as close to the race as possible, or give yourself several weeks to acclimate.  I never doubted this wisdom, but can now confirm it’s true.

So here’s how the weekend went:

At the start line, my heart rate was ranging from 98-102, last year it was 106,  that seemed like a real good indicator.  Once the race started though I knew I was in trouble ¾ the way up Dutch Henri ski hill, (which you hike/run) my HR was pegged and I was out of oxygen, this was not good.  For the next hour I rode an ok pace, but I knew it was slower than last year…  Something wasn’t right, there is really only two options:  I didn’t have my legs up to speed yet after taking a rest week last week, and/or the altitude was kicking my ass.  I’m sure it was both.

As the race progressed, I never really did get tired, in fact, around halfway I felt like I was riding stronger.  The main indicator besides feeling better is that I was now passing people, unlike the first half where I was constantly getting passed.  This is the opposite of last year, where I started faster but got slower as the day went on.  The fact that I rode a stronger second half is actually a really good sign.

So overall I achieved a new PR, 6 min faster than last year, definitely not as good as I wanted to do, but I’ll take it.  The finisher medal is really cool this year too, the back has a bottle opener built in to it, but IMO it doesn’t open any good beer as the New Belgium products I like are not twist caps,  no matter, I really wouldn’t use it as a bottle opener anyway.  I was actually glad not to get the Silver bracelet, instead they handed out a coffee mug, which is nothing all that great, but better than the useless bracelet.  Some people were irritated by not getting the bracelet, I suppose if you had a shelf full of them you wouldn’t like the change, but, they are hard to display, and I don’t miss them, even if they were tradition.

Next up, after the race was over was the lottery for a 100mtb spot.  This year Silver Rush is the only qualifier I have on my schedule, unlike last year where I nearly did them all… So, I had my finger’s crossed as it was my only chance to avoid the general lottery in January.   After the lottery slots were awarded to the guys that won them, the random draw was up.  Looking around, I noticed not that many people were standing around waiting for the drawing.  After name after name was called and very few were claiming the coins, the promoter finally had a show of hands for how many people were waiting,  there was approximately 59 people waiting for 60 coins, we were all in!  Awesome! my 2014 entry is in the books and I have another cool coin!

The next morning I woke up at 4am to volunteer for the 50 run.  At 4am I helped with late packet pick up, after that I was off to my main job for the day which was  traffic control at 5^th and Jeep road, which is where the runners take a right turn onto the private land.  9 hrs might seem like a long time to stand on a gravel road, but it went fast and was a lot of fun.  Primarily, I got to cheer every runner as they headed outbound and then again inbound.  It was really an awesome thing to see these ultra-endurance runner’s in action.  I’ve certainly done longer bike rides, but I can’t hardly imagine running that long…  Majority of my time was taken up cheering the runners (there was actually nothing to do for traffic, the jerks were a few locals that didn’t care, and no one else needed instructions to slow down…

In the few moments of down time I had, I invented a game throwing rocks at a piece of metal in the ditch, I also explored the opposite side of the road as it appeared to be an old mining site, where I FOUND GOLD!  OK, so it was pyrite, aka “Fool’s Gold,” but it was an interesting find.   Additionally, I ran up and down the trail a few times, just to feel the thrill of being a trail runner, I’m definitely not in shape for running.  Also, I checked out a hidden cooler, which did have drugs in it, (as was suspected by a fellow runner), but I’m fairly certain they were legal supplements, one pill had TEVA on it, which seems like a shoe company to me…  A cooler hidden in the trees is not particularly legal, but the race director didn’t seem to care when I mentioned it…

After all this I was cashed in.  A couple big days in the mountains and it’s back to Nebraska for some post vacation depression… or wait a minute, I mean “The Good Life

Buffalo Stampede 5k

Registered today for my second 5k this summer (and ever).  Not that I've been doing any running lately, but it sounded fun and it's out at the Crane Trust Nature Center. I'll report back after Saturday with how it went!  Still time to sign up if your interested!

It's Official, I'm in Gravel World's

Not that I thought my postcard didn't arrive in time, but now that it's posted to the website, my entry is official.

Gravel World's Postcard

Here's the postcard I sent in for my registration for Gravel Worlds!

Odin's Revenge

Gothenburg, NE
29 June 2013

 

The name is inspired by the Swedish and German heritage of the host town of Gothenburg. Odin was known as the "king of the Norse gods" and is known for his penchant for wisdom and suffering.
Source:  www.odinsrevenge.com

 

I thought I should know a little more about Odin and here’s the really interesting and relevant part of what I found: according to the mythology Odin the Wanderer is known to suffer to gain wisdom.  In one instance he traded 1 of his eyeballs to drink from the Fountain of Wisdom.  In another instance, he hung for 9 day, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree.  There he learned 9 powerful songs and 18 runes (basically he killed himself and while dead gained magical powers).  Without a doubt, Odin was willing to suffer to gain knowledge, for this trait I find the name Odin to be very suitable for this race.  However, the “revenge” part of the race name makes no sense to me, I did not run across any information that would lead me to believe that Odin has reason to be vengeful to cyclist’s on an adventure similar to his own.  I would suggest the following name for the race: 

 

Odin’s Quest for Knowledge

Perhaps even with this subtitle:  Through suffering wisdom is obtained

 

Whatever the name means, one thing is for sure, if you’re looking for a great gravel grinder, this one should be on your annual race calendar, or tour calendar, or bucket list, or bicycle adventure, this ride doesn't have to be a race.  It can be any sort of adventure you want it to be!

 

After Dirty Kanza only 28 days earlier, I was hooked on these gravel events.  They are definitely something different; low or no entry fee, lots of hills/climbing, and  local (or at least an easy drive).  Also, lots of time on the bike, a great combination of training  for strengths I’ll need for Leadville later this summer.

 

First thing I did after the DK200 was sell my Orbea CX bike and buy a Salsa Warbird 2.  The Warbird is inspired and designed specifically for gravel grinders.  I already posted my review on the bike so check out that blog if you haven’t seen it already.  The Warbird was everything it was supposed to be and it really exceeded my expectations.

 

This is the second year for Odin's race.  Last year, was super-hot and many people didn’t finish.  Today wasn’t supposed to be all that hot and really after the 200 miles at Kanza, 150 seemed like a walk in the park.  Well, maybe it wouldn’t be that easy, but certainly it was 50 miles shorter.  Although, it’s advertised at 180, so maybe next year…?

 

Since Kanza I was now in a lot better shape, with lots more miles behind me and a few less pounds to pedal around.  I felt I started too easy at Kanza and this time I was going to stay up front as long as I could.  After the Enduro a week earlier I was positive that even if I went out too hard, it wouldn’t be detrimental to the whole day.

 

 

At the KOA, waiting for the start.

At 6:00 am the ride was started and we were on our way.  I quickly grabbed a wheel in the front pack and settled into a nice pace.  It wasn’t long at all and we were into the hilly terrain South of Gothenburg.   One major mental strategy I had wrong was assuming that I would not be able to hang with the front group for very long.  Sadly, as the race started I already assumed I would not be strong enough to hang up front.  This really was a great insight for future races, that I’ll consider a gift from Odin himself, for today though it really wasn’t a big deal.

The pace was crisp, but really no one was in all that big of a hurry, considering there was still 120+ miles left to go the pace was fine.  Since, I assumed I could not stay up here all day, I decided I would lead the race for a while,  I jumped out front and lead the pack up a few hills. The best part of this was the scenic vista’s I was rewarded with as I crested the hill.  I actually had a descent gap on the pack and this allowed me to spend a few moment’s taking in the great scenery.  I’ll note that this is not something I usually do, I’m typically in a head down and ride/survive mode.

 

 

 

Super cool photo by Cory Cornbread Godfrey, early in the race when I was still with the lead pack.

Thanks to Cory Cornbread Godfrey for the photo.  Notice way up front is a bull!  He was a big dude, I would estimate 1000-1200 lbs, he ran in front of us for awhile and eventually got back to where he had jumped the fence.

 

A few miles later, I had held off on a bathroom break too long and after stopping this is when I lost contact with the main group.  Although, my plan was flawed I was right on track with my game plan.  Next I learned that if your riding by yourself you have to pay very close attention to the cue sheet.  Fortunately, I was only a ½ mile past the turn when I realized this.  1 mile is a small price to pay for this lesson.

 

Next up, was the first aid station,  I filled up a few bottles and was on my way.  Over the next few miles I noticed the tendons in my right leg were complaining, which was not a good sign of how the day might go.  Finally as I turned with the wind heading South, my right leg was telling me my day was over.  I couldn’t apply any power through it, all I could do was soft pedal.  I was really dumbfounded by this as the muscles felt great,  why all the sudden do I have tendon issues…?  Finally, I decided it had to be the seat position, I knew it wasn’t quite right, but could it really cause all this?  I hated to stop, but I did and made a few adjustments, actually they were pretty big adjustments…  It immediately felt better, but was my leg done, and was the seat position really the cause?  The aid station at Potter’s pasture, approximately mile 70 came round about this time, and I asked the volunteers if anyone could “Mr Miagi my leg”  you know, rub your hands together and generate a searing heat infused chi, which would instantly heal my leg…  That got a few laughs, but no one seemed to know this lost art, so I headed off again.

 

Amazingly, about 5 miles later, my leg was fine!  To celebrate, I put my headphones in and the hammer down.  I was off again, and still feeling strong with over half the race behind me.

Mile 96 of the course was back at the KOA where we started.  I refueled, grabbed a fresh bladder of Skratch Labs hydration mix and was back on the road headed North through town.  Going through town was energizing, but that feeling quickly disappeared as I left town and found myself headed straight into a North headwind and from what I could tell from the cue sheet, I would be riding into this wind for another hour at least…

 

The wind was slowly beating me down, I already had to watch the SS guy (who I now know to be Anatoly Zlotnik from St Louis area)  disappear over the horizon, and now the guy that used to be a mile back was gaining on me.  Finally, the guy behind me caught me and instead of being discouraged about this I figured it was an opportunity to get some free drafting in.  Unfortunately, there was a small series of hills right where he caught me and I suffered trying to stay with him!  I did manage to stay with him and when we got back out into the wind, we started working as a team, this was a great turn of events for both of us, as it turned out, each of us had a different set of strengths and we were able to push each other the whole way back to the finish.  It’s funny, that if you ask either of us who was the stronger one, we’ll both point our finger at the other guy.  Awesome to meet you out on the course Josh Lederman, and many thanks for getting me through the final 40 miles!

 

Probably the last interesting event in the final 50miles was a near over-the-cliff incident.  Josh and I were screaming down a huge descent,  the top of this descent was shrouded in hills and somewhat out of the wind.  Halfway down the descent I was slightly ahead of Josh and on the left side of the road.  The road was headed West and the wind was from the North, this made for one serious crosswind, and when that hurricane force wind was no longer shrouded by a hill to my right, I nearly got blown off the road, I can’t recall the last time I was that scared on the bike, but at 35+ mph and 20+ foot plummet off the side of the road, I knew it was going to be bad.  Luckly, about a foot from the side of the road I managed to get slowed down and back under control.  I probably maxed out my heart rate just from fear alone, not the adrenaline rush I am usually looking for while riding!

 

Eventually we turned with the wind, and screamed back to the finish at the KOA.  Along the way, we caught and passed Anatoly, I know we only caught him because he was out of gear for the wind…   Back at the finish line we learned that first place was shared by 3 people that worked together for the whole race, none of them chose to sprint it out at the end.  Kudos to their camaraderie!  Also, myself and Josh rolled in to the finish at the exact same time, I was glad to see that they gave us the same finish time/place also.  We ended up in 5^th place  or 7/8 overall if you want to count the actual number of individuals ahead of us.

 

This event was shining star example of the power of working together.  According to the results of the 27 individual finishers,  there were two groups of 3 and 3 groups of 2 for a total of 12 finisher’s that worked at a team (either for the whole race, as the top 3 did, or at least for some of the race).  This teamwork was part of the lesson Odin taught some of us today.

 

I personally learned several other lessons from Odin on this day.  I learned I could push myself a lot harder and lot longer than I thought I was capable of.  This is no minor statement, I have 3 Leadville 100mtb buckles and while those finishes ranged in the 10.5 to 11.5 hr range, I felt like I just survived those races, today, I felt like I rode hard from the start to the finish.   The big lesson was that I could have stayed at the front longer than I did, so no more coffee addiction during race season (this is the primary culprit of having to take a pee so early in the race), also if you’re going to ride a new bike 11 hours, make sure the seat is adjusted properly…

 

I learned a little more about nutrition and the Skratch Labs portables and drink mix.  More so, some fine tuning on recipes I already had in-progress.

 

A technical thing I learned was to navigate from a cue sheet and that it requires a lot of attention to not miss a turn, especially when you’re tired or just randomly looking around not paying attention.

I learned I should not go to Runza and eat fast food crap after the race.  I didn’t yak or anything, but I did feel like I polluted my system with toxic crap after a great day of fitness.

 

Last lesson of the day, was that there is time to enjoy the view while racing.  You just have to remember it’s there and look for it!

 

Many thanks to Chad Quigley and the many volunteers that helped make this day possible.  Kudo’s and positive Karma to you all.  See you next year, or maybe sooner!

Odin's Revenge Postcard

Here's the postcard I sent in for my registration into the Odin's Revenge race.

2013 Salsa Warbird 2 Review

There’s a few reviews out on this bike and they are all good, but typically they tested an early Titatinum prototype.  This review is for an (almost) straight from the factory production Warbird 2.  Yes, the aluminum version with (mostly) factory components. 

I added a Flybar Garmin mount to move the GPS out of the way of the stem, my thought was that is where I would put the map or cue sheet.  Also, note the carbon stem and bars I swapped out.

Bosses for 3 water bottle cages (or accessories), I'm not a fan of having a cage below the top tube as it's not accessible while riding, but it's nice to have!

 

Full length cable housings to keep the dirt out and shifting smooth, also note the flattened top tube shape.

Rear disk, 30 tooth low gear, and note the flattened seat and chain stays, those flatter tubes give an amazing ride!

Here's the top speced item on the bike the Enve CX carbon disk fork, tapered tube, integrated cable holder.  The color is race car flat black (just like the flat black hoods on the classic mopar muscle cars!)

First off why did I buy this bike?  Early this year I was trash talked by a friend to sign up for the Dirty Kanza 200,  letting my ego get the best of me, I signed up and did no specific training for it other than my usual schedule.   Unfortunately, my usual training schedule has me prepared for Leadville in August.  With all the cold weather and rain this spring, I was way behind on training come June 1.  However, I’m 3 for 3 at Leadville and had no reason to believe I couldn’t finish the DK200…  Since this isn’t a write-up for the DK200, I’ll just say that it was the worst day on the bike I’ve ever had, so bad in fact, I was going to quit cycling forever!   That was miles 65 to 113, thankfully things turned around, and I finished the race in 18 hrs 55 min.  I didn’t even need several days to forget the pain and suffering, I woke up the next morning and was hooked! This gravel thing was addictive and all I could think about was when could I do another race, and of course I need a better bike!

Over the next few days I started researching bike options, and I quickly came across Salsa’s Warbird, I was sold instantly, inspired by and designed for the Midwest gravel scene!  I instantly felt a personal connection to Salsa for already anticipating my needs and making a specific bike geometry to fit it!  So the big questions:  Can I get one, will it ride as great as they say it will, and finally can I afford it?

Luckily, one of my two favorite bike shops, Monkey Wrench Cycles in Lincoln, NE had several bikes on the sales floor.  Which was a great find as these things are rare online, especially in the common 56cm size I need.  So that week, I made the drive to Lincoln and test rode a 55cm, (no 56 in stock),  I could instantly feel the things I knew would make it great on the gravel: more upright/touring geometry, longer wheelbase (no toe overlap to front wheel), and for Alum it felt amazingly soft, definitely not the harsh ride I expected.  (I’m not a fan of aluminum frames at all) However, I’ve never taken CX bikes seriously and the CX bike I did DK200 on was Alum and I survived ok, so I figured I could live with an Aluminum Warbird.  Besides that, I was barely scraping the money together, so Ti wasn’t even an option.  I was amazed on the test ride at how soft the bike felt, so there really must be something to the flattened oval tube shape that Salsa promotes as softening the ride.  Hard to believe, but it felt good.  So after the test ride I’m sold, can I get one?  Lucky for me, there was still nine 56cm bike left in-stock at Salsa, and one now had my name on it!

So, I immediately changed a few things about the bike before even riding it.  Here’s the changes I made and why:

·         The Clement X’plor USH tires that were on it would have been a great tire, but I didn’t need them as I have plenty of other tires sitting around.  So those went straight to ebay as new take offs.  I know several guys that love the tire, so a great spec from the factory. 

·         In taking the tires off I was horrified at the rim choice on the bike!  I’m sure this was due to availability,  hopefully it was a situation where these were the only rims Salsa could get to even making selling this bike possible.  The Sun Assaults are 13.3mm wide…!  Really?  On a gravel CX bike, way too narrow,  this is the only real “shame on you Salsa” part of the bike.  This is the sort of thing that causes good tires to ride terrible and potentially damage the reputation of the bike, not a good thing for the first year of production…!  Fortunately, I kept my set of Stan’s Alpha 340’s and swapped out the wheel set immediately. 

Sun Assault rims in the middle 13.3mm wide, compared to the Stan's Iron Cross rims which are 19mm wide

 

·         My 340 alphas were already set up tubeless with Bontrager CX0’s. 

·         I’ll note that I love the orange anodized hubs that came on the bike, so I ordered some Stan’s Iron Cross rims and am building up an ultimate set of wheels for this bike.  Here's the wheels just after re-lacing (spokes are not tightened up yet):

Original hubs, spokes, and nipples rebuilt onto the Iron Cross rims,  16 spokes were cut and re-threaded, 32 spokes used as is, and 16 had to be made new.  Besides the rims, total cost of $18 for spokes (and I rebuilt them myself).

 

·         Next, I swapped out the seatpost, stem, and handlebars to all carbon.  To help finance this bike I parted out my old CX bike on ebay, but kept the high end components.  I had specifically bought these carbon parts for Kanza to help soften the ride up.  And they certainly help, EC70 post and bars, and an EC90 stem.  Very nice combo.  Only downside is that the bars are narrower than the cowbell 2’s I took off, the wider bars were a nice spec, and this is probably the only real loss I made in these swaps.

·         I also swapped the seat out to my favorite (that I’ve found thus far)  Fizik Aliate VS, the WTB Vector was not for me. No fault here though, seats are a personal preference item.

Those are some big changes, but the ride of the Aluminum frame will still be obvious, especially for me as these are the same components I had on my previous CX bike.

The Ride and Handling:

Night and Day difference!  If this was a blind ride test, you would have a hard time convincing me this is an aluminum bike, it is stiff, but it doesn’t have that bone jarring harshness to it that I associate with aluminum frames.  Certainly, I noticed this difference on the test ride, but now that I have a few hours in the saddle it’s spectacularly comfortable.  The geometry is right in the middle of my old CX bike, which I’ll call traditional geometry (Orbea Lobular) and my 29er Giant XTC mtb.  The Warbird still gives you a stretched out road bike feel for being more aero and fast, but yet has this uprightness to it that gives you the confidence and aggressive feel of a mountain bike.  It’s perfect, the control you want for gravel, yet aero with a touring feel for long hours and distances.  It’s a very elegant design and well executed by Salsa. 

Odin’s Revenge in Gothenburg, NE was my next big gravel event.  150 miles of back roads gravel, dirt, and MMR’s, pretty much the exact playground you would expect a gravel race to be!  The bike handled superbly, I had high expectations for it and it delivered.  Here’s some of the scenario’s I ran into that tested the bike out to the maximum:

·         30+ mph descents on washed out and rutted dirt/gravel MMR’s.  I felt confident at all times, the bike stuck to the road like a race car,  I found myself pushed to my confidence limit, and had to remind myself to stay off the brakes.  Sweeping turns especially pushed my own limits, the bike was going where I told it to, I just needed to learn to trust it!

·         Rock side bounce stability, if you ride gravel you know what I’m talking about, even on an average gravel road, you’ll hit a rock, not even all that big, and your tire jumps sideways and the whole bike gets sketchy.  Not the Warbird, yes you still get bounced, but you don’t lose temporary confidence in the bike, you just keep riding, it’s no big deal.

·         Deep gravel and soupy dirt,  these power draining conditions also cause average CX bikes to wander and destabilize.  I still had to pay attention in these conditions, but the Warbird was right at home, “keep pedaling he told me, I’ll stay upright, you get us out of here!”

·         Probably the most amazing thing is that this bike doesn’t feel like an Aluminum bike,  there’s no bone jarring feedback from the Warbird, the bike has that stiff race bike feel, but doesn’t beat you up with it.  The flattened oval  frame tubing is magical.  I originally thought this was a brand new design, but it turns out Salsa has been working on this for some time…  I have noticed similar tubing shapes on the Chili Con Crosso.  I don’t know how long they have been working on this tubing shape geometry, but the result is a long hour comfortable ride.  Kudo’s Salsa!

So, are there any downsides to the bike?  I really don’t have much, but here’s a few things I noticed, really though, I’m not sure they even qualify as negatives…

·         When standing up and grinding out a steep climb, I found you have to watch your weight distribution to keep the rear wheel from spinning.  I broke the rear wheel loose multiple times when standing, just lost traction, didn’t cause any problems, obvious fix was to not lean over the handlebars so far.

·         Note to self: don’t have too much confidence in high side winds.  This is not really a fault of the bike, late in the race, I decided to bomb a steep descent and forgot about the crosswind, I nearly got pushed off the side of the road.  This incident is really due to the gravel surface, 35c wide tires, and 20+ mph wind, but it was certainly scary as there was a 20 foot drop off into the ditch!

·         I think a few more negatives would have showed up, had I kept the bike at factory spec.  The narrow rims would have added bad handling characteristics, as would have tubes in the tires.  My carbon upgrades certainly helped damp the road vibration, but honestly, I feel they were only the icing on the cake! 

·         The wider Cowbell bars would have been nice, but honestly, I don’t think they are needed, I felt plenty stable on

·         After 11 hours on the bike and 150+ miles, this is all I got, so maybe the bike is perfect.

Lastly, the bike turns heads and gets noticed, I don’t have to even tell you that, you already know the sparkly bright orange frame and flat black fork are as flashy as a race car.  The bike is specifically designed for gravel,  any gravel junkie knows this also, and if they haven’t already seen one, they are now looking at yours.  I would venture to say even the “custom frame, single speeder, and I think I’m the most unique individual you’ve ever met” person is jealous of this bike! After all, it is a Salsa, and there’s no argument they are the coolest name in the gravel scene.

So I’m really not sure how this bike can get any better, but if there is a way, Salsa will find it and we’ll all look forward to it in 2014.

Big Ring Ranch Enduro

Lincoln, NE
22 June 2013

Report Coming Soon.