Tour De King - Wave 2.

You have registered for an Ontario Cycling event with the following information.
If you did not register for this event or the information is incorrect
please contact us at the Ontario Cycling Association

Thank you for using the Ontario Cycling On-Line Event Registration.

Event:

2011-10-02_TOUR_DE_KING

Pain Train: 24 Hours Summer Solstice

Well it had rained all night, and the morning of the race, so I was a bit skeptical of race conditions. I packed up early, drove out to a teammates house, packed up into her SUV, and drove up to Albion. In the rain.

During this time she was worried she'd be our slowest rider. I already knew I would be but all in all she ended up being our strongest rider. Not fastest, just able to pound out laps. She did 6. Impressive when other people are crying about how they're cooked after 2 or 3. Kudo's to her for sure. 6 Laps woulda put me in a Coma.

Team

Ryan: Ryan and I had raced at the 8h in Mansfield together. We were pretty decent there despite my injury.

Rob: Rob was our fastest guy. Also running a SS.

Gary: Gary rode a loaner bike from AGOGO bikes, also had some 3500+ lumen lighting system on his bike, he became a crowd favorite on the night laps... you could see him coming from Montreal. Also did a night double.

Jacki:  Jacki was our strongest rider. Doubles, and another lap in the morning. She has some wicked lungs.

Me: I'm a Clyde, I have almost 30lbs over our heaviest rider, and ride SS. I managed to stay within 10M of our fastest rider, and kept my laps consistent. 1:02 fastest, 1:16 slowest evening lap. Lights were terrible.. blrgh. I'll get faster as the weight continues to peel off, but compared to last year, my best time last year, was my worst time this year. It wasn't the same course, but I thought it was much harder with more hills. It was nice to have something to compare it to.


I actually wanted to start off this race, so we flipped a coin with Jacki who also wanted to go first. She won. I chose to take my lap on the second run.

During this time Ryan figured we might qualify for Clyde, we had 2 165lb riders, the rest were 205, 220, and me at 250. We just snuck in at a smidge over 1000lbs.

Now here's the story. The other Clyde team *There were only 2 teams in our category so second place was last place* was actually going to drop out and race in the 200+ age category. The one we were going to race in anyway. Once we moved, they decided to stay in the category. We didn't know there were only 2 entrants, they knew at the time that they were the only ones. We just swapped out thinking there'd be 5-6.

200-249 Cat
Clyde Cat

Even if we raced in 200-249 we would have come in 4th-5th place out of 17 teams. For a ragtag group who's never raced with each other, I'm actually really happy with our performance. I really hope we can race together again next year as I had a really good time with everyone, and we raced well together. Also, seemed like a really good meshing.

At 12pm or so... we realized the other clyde team were in a camp site almost across from us. The smack talk began almost immediately.

Over the course of the night, it was a pretty tough battle, back and forth they'd be up 10, we'd be up 10, they'd be up 3, we'd be up 30 seconds. At the end they were only 2:30 min faster then us.

I'm not going to run down all my laps here, but I'll do my first day lap. Technically all my day laps are the same, except they're progressively slower by 2 min or so. Except the night lap, but I'll bitch about lights after.

The first climb right off the bat was pretty tame until you got into the bush, then it started going up at a pretty good pace. The first sections of single track was a lot of uphill switchbacks that I don't have a lot of practice with. I would power up them but didn't really have a smooth corner in most. I probably exerted myself a lot more in this section then I really needed to. I remember getting out of it the first time and onto some double track heading into Woo Wu and seeing 178bpm. Not where I wanted to be after this part, but I guess standing and climbing isn't going to help me with any form of heart rate control. After Woo Wu there's a good solid speed you can maintain through Sugar Rush and the double track sections. Those sections didn't have much in the way of terrain. This moved into some doubletrack and into Get Groen, the first climb was just steep with roots. I never was able to get through it just on account of people dismounting here. I'd have a good amount of speed and would get up the roots only to have random dismounts or get caught behind someone in granny. Unfortunate, but what can you do.... CROSS RUN IT UP THAT BADBOY WOOOHAAAHH!

The first section above though was wet. And incredibly rooty. I remember my front tire sliding everywhere off some of those roots. It was not that enjoyable of a ride as I haven't really gotten my bikes legs under me yet, even though I've been riding in Durham and such. I just don't get the same terrain. I'll try to ride Albion more. Its just so much more enjoyable and loaded with things that make me have to work hard, and ride right.

After that section there's a nice tempo'd uphill and vista view that I used to pound back my bottle of Gatorade and get my lungs back. This went into Pinecomb Express. Probably my favorite section of the course. Lots of fun things in there, good drops, lots of options, fast flowing single track. The scenery was excellent as well. Just a really solid piece of track, super enjoyable.

Double track, into Albion Witch, and BMBC, that sand climb sucked last year, and sucked this year, just a little less though. SSing I guess has made me stronger, because even with a granny last year I had to walk it. Not so this year, not even once.

Live and Learn was really fast and enjoyable, nothing to note in here.

High Roller had a couple of climbs in there that were in weird spots. The ground before one of the climbs had a bunch of sand there that just bled off any speed I had before the hill. I made it up but it was a good solid spike in my heart rate for sure. The rollers in there were fun but I found myself just riding around them to conserve speed.

Hot August Nights was a fun twisty down. Once you were through that thing it was double track and a sprint to the end.

2 Things

Screw that 5KM sign. Just made things worse.
Much love for the 1KM sign, it made everything better.

I rented some lights there for my night lap. It was terrible. Last year I remember having a really strong lighting system which illuminated everything. This year it was weird. It was a really powerful light but had no real area of lighting at all apart from a 2 meter radius wherever I pointed my head. I didn't get used to leading with it till much later in my ride, but it made the root section almost scary when my tire would just suddenly skirt left or right on me for no reason. Also my night lap was surprisingly silent with only 1 or 2 riders passing me. It was really enjoyable once I got into the groove though. Just wish I had better lighting overall, or found someone with a better lighting system.

Couple of highlights.

1. Someone riding my wheel for like 2/3rds of the course. I asked if he wanted a go around, he said nope. Perfectly fine back here.

2. Lots of people commenting on effort on the SS and to keep it strong.

3. One guy rocking by me but screaming up a hill. Like vocally yelling WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... CRANK IT SINGLE SPEEDER.

4. Taking some of those hard sections flawlessly and handling the terrain really well.

5. Hand Blisters from wrenching on my handlebars up hills. This is completely new.

That's about it. 4 hours of sleep over the 24 hours, and about 80KM of riding overall.

Will edit the report later. I'm sure there's crap all over here that doesn't make sense, but I'm doin with what I got right now, and right now I don't got any grammar skills :P


..... that was intended.

24HSS....

 

Aww yeah.

Well prepped. Team's well prepped. Bike's in great condition. New fork, ready to ride 100km baby.

I picked up a RockShox Reba RL TTI 29" yesterday to swap in for longer rides. I have the equipment now to swap to rigid when I feel like it. Eventually that fork will make its way onto my full suspension rig I'll build over the winter for ultra endurance races.

Went for a run earlier this week, felt super strong during the run. Calm and relaxed, good rhythm and breathing, and ended up doing 10km before realizing how far I had gotten. Not bad either, did 10K in under 50 min. Bugs are killing me in there... time for some OFF.

I think running is my new workout. Riding works, but if I'm under 20KM its not really a workout anymore, just a warmup. Running used to destroy my legs. Now they recover within a few hours and aren't sore anymore. Even after 10K.

Ajax Pickering Tri Club will have me doing 100KM rides on weekends, so I'll pick up my saddle time there along with what races I have and weekend rides in Durham. I'm going to start hitting the beach up for open water swimming when I have some time. I don't need to do much in the water, but its more of a "just get comfortable" thing.

Solstice is looking to be a pretty wet ride to be honest, I'm not 100% on it being completely enjoyable, but I'll bring extra socks, and my rain jacket just in case. Saturday is looking like a mixed bag. Hopefully the track is quick drying, otherwise its going to be a muddy sloppy mess.

Going to spend most of Friday packing up and getting my gear ready, then I'm either out Friday night, or Saturday morning. Haven't decided. Kinda want to get a pre ride in... we'll see. Race report for sure.

Also I came across a Rammstein song called "Ich Tu Dir Weh"

"I hurt you, 

I'm not sorry, 

It does you good, 

Hear how it screams" 

Thats the rough translation of the song.... and a pretty direct explanation of singlespeeding.

Hrm..

Spent some time this weekend in Durham. Rode pretty strong on some hills, doubled up on a hill where I borked up a climb just not remembering where a root was. Ended up having to cut a corner too sharp and got off the bike to complete.

Rode with a fully loaded camel back on though, just to get used to it for the 24H, though I may not need it now all things considered. But I may just start riding with it as its almost another 10lbs of weight to haul around. It only makes you stronger...

I'm also running a lot lately. I'm not sure why though. I used to hate it, now I actually don't mind throwing the buds in and running a few laps in the bush. I actually don't mind it at all. It does peel weight off like crazy though, I guess that's motivation enough. There is another underlying reason why I'm running now.. with less pain. I'll actually credit the Kona.

One of the things I noticed with the Kona is that the rides feels smoother now. Even the rough stuff seems okay. I've taken a lot of running starts at hills with roots and gone directly up and over while just barreling over things I would usually navigate instead. The bouncing isn't that bad anymore, where originally it would just be massive shocks everywhere. After longer rides I'd feel super beat up. The epic 8 I did last month I felt like a truck hit me after the race was over. Not so much cause of the crash, but overall just white knuckling it over everything and expecting the bike to absorb everything was a very silly way of riding on a rigid. Combine it with a creeping fear of technical terrain, and you have a recipe for a very long day.

Fast forward a few weeks of riding and racing.. I'm now hitting log overs and rockbed without any issue. Like solid 2ft log overs. My climbing is a lot stronger then it ever used to be, and my descents are much more in control, although with speed comes some panic braking when I don't know where the trail is leading... I locked my front and rear tire on Saturday trying to stop. I'm surprised I didn't go over the bars, just slid :)

Overall, I deal with shock better after subjecting myself to it almost every night for the last couple weeks. Things that would jar me before now really don't have any effect because I ride differently.... we'll call it riding light. Mostly I'm about an inch or 2 above the saddle, and I use my legs and arms a lot more to absorb any impact that may be coming my way. This kinda translates to running I guess. I'm impacting the ground with my legs, but I don't feel it reverberate throughout my entire body.

This reverberation can tire you fast as your body contracts small support muscles every step or pedal stroke to keep you upright and in balance, this uses glycogen, and the more you call on these muscles to keep you upright, the quicker it runs out. These small support muscles don't store a lot of it either. Once the stores get low, you get tired as they stop working or degrade into a state dependency, calling on other muscles to help stabilize you . So instead of using energy  for pedaling, bike control, or jogging you actually are fighting yourself just as hard as you are the trail you're riding or running.


I'm going to take back some shit I said earlier... Riding a rigid bike will make you tougher. Riding a SS will make you tougher. A SS IS hard work. You don't have the same options that guys on the FS/30spd bikes have. You have one option. Go. It doesn't make you tougher in the I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS kinda tougher. It makes you tougher as in strengthening the muscles you don't use often. It promotes good core and joint strength. It also gets you riding looser so you're able to deal with things using your body as a suspension fork.

This rolls right over to running. As you get stronger, you can run farther as your body doesn't deal with the shock of running anymore.. and running helps with the rigid bike set up.

Now I'm not shitting on the FS/30spd guys. In fact I'm hardly doing that. Believe me, I'll get a FS rig eventually. I can only imagine how strong you ride on a bike with the technology behind it after riding a bike that uses none of it.

One bike makes you tougher. One bike will allow you to ride longer. Use one, benefit in the other, look pro on both.... or try to anyway....

24 hour in 5 days baby, lookin  forward to it!

CAN.. YOU... DIG IT...... out of my side, it hurts.

Proud.

I'm so Screwed

So its done. My first long distance solo event since picking up cycling last year. It didn't take long.... its also on account that nobody is available to team up with me. My group ride buddies will be there as a team, and my doubles partner is away that weekend. That leaves me... and I want to race it. I've also been debating doing a Solo event for a while just to see how far I can push myself.

So here's my chance. 

My goal is ultimately survival through100KM. Which is 10 laps. If I do laps at 45-50m a lap. I can do this. It looks like I'll have a really decent support crew so I'll be ready to ride without much issue. I also have the 24H coming next weekend. We'll see how that goes as well. I'm aiming for 5 laps in Albion.. which I am really pumped for.

Also, I think I'm going to swap out of the full rigid setup and go with a front fork. I worry way to much about that thing when I'm racing, or taking some downs and such. Its awesome don't get me wrong, but I'm going to go grab a reba XX with a remote lockout this week I think. I'll put the all mountain bike aside. I doubt I'll go anywhere or ride anything that's ever going to require it. Also... it kinda sucks cause I don't have buyers remorse over my current bike... I just want MOAR.... and I realized it last night, and then shut it down. Mebbe in 2012 or so, or something. But I'm going to stop thinking about how to do it this year. Its not really something that's required for a long time from now... possibly Trans Rockies in 2012.

So anyway back to basics. I'm actually running now too, I did 10K last night. I know surprising, but I can run... the most surprising thing is... I'm not sore.. I feel warmth in my legs, they're tired, but they're not broken, and I could probably go running again tonight. This is a good thing. I just need to get into the water now, and I can say I'm training for my Triathlon.

But I'm actually really looking forward to the grindfest that is the 8H coming up. Who knows, may lead to a 2 man 24H race....... or quite possibly a Solo 24.

.... haha, you so crazy.

4th Time's a Charm. O-Cup

I'm not making excuses... but 2 things.

1. Gears woulda helped hugely. SS in a geared category, probably not smart, but whatever. I love my bike somuch. HTFU is probably the answer here.. the SS category is epic man. I'd get destroyed. Looking back though I coulda dropped my gearing down a bit, and just climbed a bit slower, and descended a bit quicker. Woulda easily made up time..... looking back I can even see places I coulda been faster.

2. Need to believe in my legs a bit more, they deliver when I don't think they will.

After a calm and relaxed ride in Durham on Saturday... which included a pretty good amount of technical log overs and some rockbed. I found myself seeking out things to practice on during the ride. The causal air of my own "derp" riding came to a screeching halt when my pedal hit a hidden stump and my headset decided to punch me about 2" away from my dangly parts. The rest of the ride was actually really good. Relaxed but attentive and focused.

There was a pretty severe hill in there that I got to climb. Really technical. I could spend all day on that thing learning it. I'm glad I powered it out on my first try... it proved that sitting slowly on a hill is actually more detrimental to a single speeder then anything. I need speed/momentum in the hills, and usually all I get is some room right before them which is enough for a couple of cranks. Otherwise I'm grinding out in power mode.... this causes issues as most of the time as I get trapped on a hill and grind to the top. I'm not gassed, but my body is in a weird place where downs get slower cause I'm overly cautious trying to let my legs and lungs recover from the onslaught of what I figure is the equivalent of doing squats for 2 minutes straight.

Results

I came 14th out of 24 riders. In beginner. I am not super fast. I am not slow either.. on the otherhand.... if you match out speed and times for the podium guys, and go look around at other standings... well you get the picture. I would have placed mid pack for a Try an O-Cup.... which would have been like 5th.... but whatever, I had an awesome race... simply because of the finish... and I'll explain why yesterday was AWESOME.. though I'm definitely not racing beginner next year. I'll move to a proper category so I lose with pride.

RACE.....RRRRRRRRREPORT:

Line up and I crack jokes with some people. I'm the ONLY guy on a SS in the pack. There are many chuckles, and questions as to why I would do this to myself. I'm unsure as to how to answer them. I know its hard. But I don't want to come off like I'm sort of awesome rider or anything... I just say that I enjoy riding my bike, and its fun. More chuckles. I fire off my 3 speed joke about biking, walking, and pass me a beer. One guy tells me I'm his hero, another guy tells me I'm crazy when he see's I ride with a rigid front fork.

<opinion> Apparently Single Speeding is some level of masochism that I was unaware of. I did understand that it was harder, and I DO NOT SEARCH OUT any sort of kudos or anything about it, but people somehow respect single speeders just on what I guess is difficulty. It IS hard. Yes, but I chose to ride it not for the ooh's and ahhs of self inflicted difficulty. I ride it cause I'm TERRIBLE, and it makes my ride easier not managing gears, and suspension, and whatever. I get tunnel vision when I ride... having 1 gear means that when I need power, I move my legs, when I need to stop, I use my brakes. I appreciate encouragement on the course though, don't get me wrong, I am not ungrateful for the "GO CLDYE SINGLESPEEDER, YOU EFFIN ROCK* as someone yelled at me yesterday, THAT fuels me. But by no means am I searching for it. So I appreciate it when I'm racing</opinion>

AAND we're off.

AAAND its a hill first thing. FFFFFFFUUUUU. Naturally, I'm all pumped up and having no clue how to race, I power up this hill like a boss. I am IN FIRST PLACE. FIRST MOFUGGIN PLACE. I have dominated everyone up this hill. I look like a boss, I rode that hill like a BAWWS... I ride the single track, nobody can pass me as I take up a lot of room. I get to the first double track down. Guess who's not a boss anymore... THIS GUY. No matter how I spin, guys with gears are faster then me on downs :( Back into single track, I count at least 7 guys who pass me at this point. I'm also realizing that I'm redlining myself... and have been for the last 5 minutes. Not good.

Into the next climb on single track and I'm starting to get tunnel vision. I'm holding technical together well, but small mistakes are being made just due to the lack of oxygen. I calm myself down on the next section of double track and coast down it, giving my legs and lungs a break. I come out of the tunnel vision and into a pretty fun down. At this point I've counted about 10 guys past me. I catch them in the hills on their granny, but it works against me. They're slow and they can power out in their crazy gear ratio. I on the otherhand need lots of room to keep momentum up, and find myself torquing through these sections. I slide on a root, and its game over. I have to let another 4 guys by me on granny while I haul my bike to the top.


I go down the other side, and hit a slick section. Front tire gives a bit of a slide and I recover. Guy behind me says "Nice recovery man, I thought you were down". I say thanks.

I keep on going on, getting to some shattered stone down, and navigate it at a pretty good clip. Bike feels put together but I feel every single bump.... at this point, I want gears and a full suspension bike. I don't hate my bike, but those guys are milking this section by bombing the shiat out of it.

At this point I realize I'm getting angry. The last guy to pass me is a skinnier guy, probably 150 or so full suspension fully geared, race gear and all. I tell myself, you're going to keep with him, and you're going to beat him. I get into the last part of single track, its got a short down in it, with a pretty fun drop. I lose 0 speed here, and power up the last hill. I realize I have better hill legs then him as he's grannied up and spinning. I almost collide with him while powering up the hill. Into the recovery and lane section, people are cheering us through, and I pound some Gatorade.

Lap 2.

Start hill again. This time I crank to the top, but take a bit of time to do it so I don't trash myself.. I'm still on guyface's tire though. Though at this juncture an new challenger appears. He's right behind me. On the downs I can hear him, but on the double track he's not passing. I offer to let him by, but he says.. and I QUOTE THIS SHIT " No, you're good through the technical sections, I'm just stealing your lines".. Well eff me someone's borrowing MY lines. That's comedy... I suck.

I continue to ride well and this time I'm not red lining myself, but rather keeping at a good pace and keeping up to my frienemy who's bombing the flats, but getting caught in the hills.... all of which this time, I stand and deliver on. I'm actually warm now, and performance is there. Starting races cold is really dumb... like super dumb. My downs are actually much crisper this time through the twisty stuff. No "whoops" or "HOOOAHH" sections. I bomb through that rock section picking a good line, and all drops are ridden well. I cannot let this guy get too ahead of me. Lap 2 is my lap, it is slower then lap 1, but its stronger and I'm not off my bike at all.

Guyface behind me makes his move. He blows by me on some doubletrack.. I feel bad for him, he dives on the next section of single track :( It wasn't a hard fall but I get away from him a large distance before he's back up and biking.

I start to plan. This race is no longer vs 23 other people.. My fitness *Read: HAHAHAHAHAHA (tears)* takes over and I am biking well, so I drift to planning where I'm going to make my move. I plan it for the last part of the race, through that single track section with the down and small jump / drop. It has a very short but steep hill I'm going to power up, and time it to get right on his ass as we crest into the final sprint. We enter into the final section, and he's looking behind, he knows its on now, he's heard me behind him the entire race, hell I probably talked about the plan out loud for all I know, cause now he's riding hard.

750m left......

Into the sandy down and its on. I pedal my ass off, chose to go no brakes. I hit the down with him right in front, he brakes a bit, I ride the side and drop into it gaining some momentum.. We spin into the hill, and I start to hear the clicking of his gears.

Ever hear a drill Sgt yell at someone? Ever watch full metal jacket? Yeah, that right now is my brain. " YOU WILL GET UP THIS EFFING HILL AT SPEED, OR YOU WILL QUIT BIKING RIGHT NOW. I'M SURPRISED YOU EVEN MADE IT THIS FAR YOU FAT BASTARD, YOU GOING TO CLIMB THIS HILL LIKE A MAN AND BEAT THIS GUY, OR YOU'RE GONNA QUIT OUT BECAUSE YOU ARE A PANSY BOY. IT MEANS NOTHING RIGHT NOW TO ANYONE ELSE, BUT IF YOU LOSE THIS FIGHT I WILL NOT LET YOU LIVE THIS DOWN"

I have never, ever, ever hit a hill this hard. Remember, I suck hard and I have been close to red line this entire race cause I have no idea about energy conservation... But no, not this hill, not this time. I rickroll this hill like I'm possessed. I am standing, I am leg pressing trucks, and I EXPLODE over the crest and air my bike out. I hit the ground and I have passed him right at the spot I said I would. SPINNING like its going out of style, I never look back. I spin so hard, I cannot effing see what is beside me so it doesn't matter. 100M left, and I am into the grass and around a corner, still spinning. A EvoCycle rider yells out " GET GOIN MIRO, HE'S ON YOUR TIRE"

I hear Chico yelling and the crowd actually cheering the both of us as we're racing like its tour de frances final stretch. Its entertainment if anything. I am literally growling and grunting my ass off the entire stretch.

I beat him. By 3 seconds. He was coming for me at the end there in a bigger gear and I could hear him doing the same.

First place finish? No. But that finish in and of itself was epic to me.

That finish in and of itself is something I would say will keep me coming back to racing over and over.

I may never podium, but I'm having way more fun being in shape and looking better every week then the podium guys are getting puny medals.... a finish like that, is just an example of what I would have missed had I not started this quest.

Too awesome... too too awesome.

14th place baby. But it felt SO good... not because I finished... but because I actually planned something other then finishing. I planned a final sprint and a rank improvement. It wasn't a question about finishing.. but one of strategy... and this makes me so giddy.

CHARGING LEGS [0% |||||||||||||||||||||||----- 100%]

I have a fun relaxed ride in Durham tomorrow morning, followed by a possible pre ride in Albion later tomorrow afternoon. Then a race in Albion on Sunday regardless of pre-ride or not. It should be fun. I hear the course is super fast and smooth, but just a lot of elevation changes. Not a big problem I don't think. Also part of that O-Cup will be included in the 24H Albion race as well so a bit of a scout out.

I'm not sure that any of my teammates are going to pre ride Albion with me on the 18th or so, so I may just can that and pre-ride it on the Friday when I get to the camp site and after I set  up.

Good weekend of MTBing coming up. Hopefully the weather plays nice.

NO-Cup 2...

Again I bailed out of the O-Cup this weekend.

2 reasons.

1. My knee was / is still healing, and its on my mind when I ride.
2. I pre rode it this Saturday.. in the cold, and during a Thunderstorm... twice.. so race length, at scout pace.

After pre riding and slow crashing once....

Slow Crashing: When you crash and you have time to look at your watch as you bike tips over on you, but there's nothing you can do except kinda contemplate your navel while its happening and brace for impact eventually. 

I realized that a Full Rigid / SS combination requires a lot of skill to navigate some nasty terrain.

Skill I lacked horribly this weekend. It might have been the rain. It might have been the knee, it might have been the course, but my brain was NOT there for the trail, and things I usually do without issue were taxing and difficult. This would have lead to another injury, so I passed it up. Upsetting as it was, I'll get over it. Mind you there were 2 things there that really jumped out at me, both of them were about the same difficulty.

Rocky terrain in a decent where I couldn't find the line. After almost bailing out on the second one, I realized that there were cheat lines through the sides. The realization of this POST doing it was a good indicator that I wasn't thinking right.

There's another O-Cup this weekend in Albion, of which I may go and hit up. I've ridden in Albion before and the elevation changes are really the only factor, the trail is pretty neutral with some technical log overs and some root drops but nothing like rock stairs. I'll register Saturday after my DMBA ride if I'm feeling strong like I did after last nights ride.

The 24H race is around the corner, and I'm actually super psyched for it. Getting in more hill training, though I'm going to start to focus on the rockbed climb on my local trail. The one I avoid because I torque my rear tire somewhere in there and lose all momentum EVERY TIME I TRY IT. This will be the basis for my technical climbing training... a skill I lack right now. To compensate I use a CX style "Hop off, kick someone in the face, run up hill with bike on shoulder, hop on, kick someone in the face, ride down hill" kinda thing. That needs to change.

I remember last years ride, and the one hill that absolutely just wrecked me was a long grinding hill to a feed station. I remember sitting up there for a long time trying to find my lungs while downing half their eLoad supply. I found a hill that's VERY similar to that particular hill. I grind that hill out at least 3-4 times on my ride now, just to make sure.

I am debating going to a 32/20 for the 24. I ride a 32/18 right now and its great on some hills, but if I remember correctly, Albion doesn't have a lot of flow into some of the hills they give you. It may change this year as they've done something like $100,000 worth of trail maintenance and development since last year.

I'll update Saturday with a decision.

Sandbagging... never thought about it... after 4 races, there it is.

Lets put this into perspective. I am by no means a fast rider. For my weight, and for my skill level. I am fast. For my weight, and my skill level in the classes I race in, I am a mid pack rider. I am okay with this. I am not the slowest. I am not the fastest. I am quite literally the best trollface rider there is.

I've been in a discussion on a forum about Clydes and sandbagging.. well not so much a discussion but just realizing that more and more people defend themselves voraciously using the same argument that a 250lb guy is trying to make. Only the light guys are right and heavy guys are wrong. Its the ignorance that bothers me the most. Not the classes. Fat guys should train harder and not be fat, so they can compete with the guys who should train harder, drop the 1lb, and race in age categories where their times are on par with podium, or near top times.

The argument about training harder for the fat Clydes now applies to you as well. Personally, while I do have a bit of investment just due to starting to bike at 312lbs, and chipping away to a much more competitive 249, I understand where the 275lb guy who's at the top of the hill gasping for air is mentally at that point. Hell I even get there now with some of the stuff that 150lb guys just ride up like they're on a quad.

Personally, I don't think there really should be a category for guys who are 250+lbs or whatever. I don't, and because I just don't think its needed. I actually wouldn't even be in that category anymore now that I think about it. But really its not the case. I train pretty hard to go as fast as I can at the weight I'm toting around. I'm not fat by any stretch of the word.

The case to me is that while there are guys who cling to 201lbs but race in the Clyde category acing 275lb riders by well over 10 - 20min a lap on a 17km track, they're the same guys who tell the 250lb riders that they're whining if they bring up sandbagging. Easily dominating the category is okay for them, but if you bring up the fact they could move to another category and still be competitive but not win, its time for you to shut up fatty.


I'm done with the back and forth on this particular subject, its actually useless to continue to argue it. Some guys will race in Clyde because they are fat. Some guys will race in Clyde because they used to be fat, and are now leaner and faster. Some guys will race in Clyde cause they can't hack it in their age group. It's the way things will be, and from what I've seen... has always been. Nothing I can do about it, except train harder.


Citizen class race this weekend. I looked at the times from last year. The podium finishers all have times that EXCEED or are on par with the times in some of the Masters and Elite categories. One has a podium finish in masters if he raced there. More mileage in those categories overall, but average speed was on par.

If by chance I ever get to a point in my racing endeavors where I'm dominating a category *Read: Probably never*. I'll move on and get my ass kicked somewhere else. I'd actually rather finish mid pack of a hard race, then finish first and berate those who come out and provide enough support to keep the category I'm sandbagging alive.

Overall I finished low mid pack in Paris to Ancaster overall, but in my age category I finished end of the pack. In Clyde, I finished mid pack almost exactly. I have a lot of training to do, and these times will get better as I train and as I'm getting experience.

But I won't ever look down on a beginner or a heavier set rider in a race.

Knights who say Knee

I went for a 20km ride last night. Originally my knee complained a bit but it seemed to settle into a relaxed pace. I did a few hills, nothing insane, just moderate climbs.

I should be alright for the O-Cup this weekend. Hardwood I hear is pretty nasty. Fun course, but a lot of work.

We'll see how it goes. I'll keep testing the knee out as the week goes on.

There's a casual ride on Saturday that I'll probably do. I should take the bike in to get fixed up though. The front wheel is a bit out of true and needs to be checked over. Also a quick once over of my forks to check for cracks as well. I don't see any, but a trained eye might find one.