24 Hours of Hot August Nights...... the clickening.

Hot August Nights, or my official marker of 1 year of where I started from.

Lets review last year. My best time was 1:11. My worst time last year was a night lap of 1:36. This year my WORST time was 1:00:23. My best time was 56:30. I was 15 minutes faster then my best time last year, and on my worst time, I could have possibly turned a double lap this year....

First, I want to thank Rob for the ride in Durham a few days ago. He's much faster then I am, and to keep up with him I had to really stop using my brakes. I learned to trust my bike quite a bit during that ride, usually I'd brake into corners instead of trusting my tires and just leaning into it. After the ride in Durham I really trusted my bike to do what I told it to. It took almost a summer of riding to finally get to this point.

One other mistake I found myself doing was riding with WAY to much pressure in my tires. I was always so pissed that my tires never seemed to grab, even though everyone would gush about how Schwalbe's were the best thing to ever put rubber to dirt. They never hooked up for me. I finally started riding sub 30psi and they seem to grab everything now. Climbing is a bit more of a try, but I haven't slipped the back tire out from under me since.

Prior to the race I hadn't done much riding. In fact I probably increased calorie intake by a significant amount while not doing much but relaxing at home. On top of this, a weekend away last week really put me in a foul mood for the days leading up to the event. I barely packed for it, and wasn't really looking forward to the event at all apart from riding a few laps, sucking, getting back to camp, grumbling about how I coulda been faster, while secretly hating the fact that I'm not improving at all anymore and the wall that I'm seeing lately isn't giving any sort of way by speed or fitness improvements.

After an evening of sitting on the couch, eating kung pao spicy chicken and noodle and drinking diet pop, I took my bloated gut to bed at 10, getting up at 6:30 for the ride out to Albion where I'd stumble my way through another brutal night course.

I was riding with a corporate team. Evolution cycles has some really fast guys. The're mainly in the shop every once in a while, and their body comps are usually about 88% muscle, 11% bone, 1% fat. So already I figure I'm going to shit the bed with times forcing us into the "yay we'll be casual" category.  Not to mention that a lot of other riders know them by name.



I arrived around 8ish and met up with the group I was going to ride with.


Bill, Brad, Jeff, Shawn, Al and Herb.

First off, I got there pretty foul mooded. I was worried that I was going to roll up on a group of sausage suit wearing mofo's. Not so much. The Big Unit jokes started flying almost immediately, also being given the initial nickname of Unit before we got to know eachother by name was actually a huge moodlifter for me. I went to the chalet to grab all of our race kit, got back and started talking about lights. Al and Shawn had mentioned their friend was selling some for 100 bucks. Renting a light was 65, I figured for another 35 why not. I'll use it in the fall so its good news if it was a good light.

Turns out they're a name brand. Purchase made, we went back to the camp site. At this point I had totally forgotten about how much I was unsure of riding my first lap, and the race bug started getting into my skin.

Secretly I've been wanting to be sub 1 hour since starting this year. In my 24 hour events anyway.

They decided I was riding 6th. Fffuuu...

So my first lap I finally got out at about 4:50 or so.

Race Report:

The first climb into Gnarly Berms was actually a lot easier then last year. I also caught at least 3 riders on this climb, 1 of which left before me like they were on a mission. Most of them I caught were in granny just spinning out. I made it out and up pretty quickly and flowed through the first part of single track. I'm unsure of the name, but I noticed myself not using my brake almost immediately and coming out of the corners kicking rather then gaining my bearings first. I also noticed myself whipping my front tire around rather then waiting for it to come through.

I rolled into IMBA Alley and railed the entire thing, no brakes, just kept my speed up and came out into the spectator area under a good amount of speed, up and into the small climb there and I just kicked through it without much trouble. I noticed by this time that I wasn't really hurting or breathing hard. Heart rate was low as well so I decided to push through Sugar Rush as hard as I could.

I continued through Woo-Wu keeping my flow and braking to a minimum really happy with myself right now. I actually was super happy with how I was riding but I was starting to breath hard because I was pushing pretty good. I came out of Wu Wu and into some downs and ups where you could get a hill for free if you kept your momentum up. I believe this was Sugar Rush, I remembered it from summer solstice. So I continued to lay off the brakes and pedal when I could to gain speed.

One of the things I noticed myself doing was testing during coasting to see if I could boost my speed at all. I imagine there were a few areas I got a bit more out of cause I did this.

I could hear the music blaring so I knew I was around the Misfits camp site. Up and over the road and into a grassy area, I came around a corner to find some MTBR members sitting on a table ringing a cowbells, but ahead of me was a wicked fun straight down and into a crazy grass berm, I hammered into it trying to make the most of what I could, I did feel like I kept a lot of speed through it.

After this there was a section of double track and it lead into a pretty steep climb to the feed hill. I caught a lot of people here. I'm not sure why. I would hit Eload take a massive gulp of what I got, and fire through. Most people I passed would get sapped. The climb was small and into Moraine Momentum. I knew that after Moraine there was the long section of double track that went into the vista. I would stand and go through Moraine every time I hit it, and try to flow as best I could keeping speed where possible.

Into the vista double track and I would make it a point to drink my water bottle here. The entire thing. I also pushed harder through this section then in solstice knowing that last time I meandered through trying to catch my breath. Also this section lead into Get Groen during to solstice, there was a small climb to get there. This was removed all together in favor of the faster and well known Pinecomb Express.

I wish I spent some time pre riding this section as I chose the easy route every time. I just didn't know what was on the far side of some of the tech, and I didn't feel like eating anything I didn't have to. Looking back I should have actually just went for it as there wasn't anything crazy in those areas, and a rock garden was the only thing that looked like it woulda been tricky.

Double track into the bridge, into live and learn. There's a hard right in there that has netting up. I always hit this corner hard and make it through. Then into the shittastic sand climb I've come to love and hate.

Adding the Albion Witch was perfect.

Into High Roller and I made it through to the double track down back to the starting entrance. There were still some climbs in here but they seemed to be nothing in comparison.

I pushed harder through this section spinning out trying to make up as much time as I could.

Into the small hills before the end and I'm pointed into the timing tent. I pull the card out, check my watch... says 58 min, I figure another 1H+ lap as I had buggered the watch up when I left. Swipe the card, hand off to Herb, and go to the timing tent to see my time.

57:39

Stunned. It took a few seconds to sink in. It took a few seconds to realize that after a year of pushing hard and getting out of the chair and onto a bike. I managed to rock out a sub 1 hour lap.

GOAL.... ACHIEVED.

I was excited for myself. I visited with old race teams and friends. I went out to the Misfit camp to share a beer, listen to some tunes, and I went back to camp fired up for lap 2.

I won't bore you with the night lap, but it was exactly the same as the above, but fired up with my new found riding techniques, and my sudden blackout of my surroundings, I rode faster and managed to pull a 56:30. I was and still am, ecstatic about how I rode.

I really needed this race. I needed something to show me I was improving this year. Some of the other races really dragged me down. The 8H really killed my spirits.

This was the first race I really went out there and killed it enough to be average. And suddenly, it feels like the work I put in finally came together.

The guys I raced with were awesome guys. They're all from Whitby so this means I've gained more riding buddies who ride consistently through the week. I felt like I fit in the moment the Unit jokes started.

Just overall an incredible weekend, and a real lift for me. I was starting to think that the salads, and training weren't doing me anything other then making people at work pity my lifestyle changes.

Then finally, it clicked, and I got that clean pure feeling of achievement again. The same I had last year, the same that pushed me through a winter of training and had me so keen for this summer.

Sub 50 next year?

Never know... but sure as shit I'm going to train for it.

Solo 8 H, Round 2

Event:  Solo Single Speed Men


So I'm signed up for the 8H again in Hardwood as a Solo rider. Round 2.


After the first one failed so miserably, I had a lot of wind taken out of my sails. The flat had me spooked all race, the crank failing on me, well... yeah.

CDMBR was a lot of fun even though I really didn't know anyone else on the course. It was a pretty strong race for me as well, so I was kinda happy with how I performed. Minus the no water second lap, I think the race was pretty strong.

I've taken the last week or 2 to relax. I've spent some time on my CX bike just riding around, I haven't been on the SS in a while, like since CDMBR. Tonight I'm heading to Durham with Rob for a ride. I'm really looking forward to it.



I need more high cadence long distance rides. I find it exceptionally boring lately just pumping out a 2 hour ride on stuff. I think what I may do is start to ride to Durham on the CX bike, have a lunch, ride around, ride home day. I need some goals when I ride other then "just do it for 90 min". I also will have to spend some time on the indoor trainer during raining days, or days I don't head out. I'll try to get in 2 of these a week. Forcing myself to do 40km each ride. I'm going to start to get that time in now. I have over a month to really start piling on the KM.

I have the Tour De King after the 8H. I believe it'll be my last race of the season. I may volunteer for the Single Track Challenge as a Marshal but no more.

I need to swap out of biking for a while as a form of healthy activity. I'm going to start focusing on core and muscle development. I'm at the point where my body has adapted to biking, but as for muscular endurance, I'm lacking heavily. Its fatiguing my body faster then the actual biking is and the faster I'm pushing myself to go, the more I'm noticing I start to fall apart. It gets kinda dangerous as the day goes on, especially for endurance events.

Also the weight lifting and core exercises will give me a nice break from riding. Throw in some HIIT either hitting the bag or stair climbing and I think I should be ready to start training specifically for 8 hour+ races.

..... always nice to have a plan. Execution is what gives results right?

Edit: I also need to stop writing from work, hurried posts make me look like I fail at grammar badly... I promise I don't... or something.

CDMBR... Sticks and Stones will break my bones... but failure wasn't an option.

It was a race I was looking forward to since last year. I was fairly close to riding it in 2010, but just didn't figure I had the endurance to do it yet. But its a race in my home town, *Welland.. close enough*, and I used to bum around there when I was a kid on my BMX. Of course things are very different now, but riding by the old flour mill was nostalgic enough, and seeing the canal again was a good reminder of crashing my BMX into trees and how much fun it was back then.

Meaghan and I packed up for a weekend at my grandmothers. I knew it was going to be tough to eat right the day before the race. I kept the incredibly good home cooked food to a minimum. It was hard, grandma always has enough food to feed an army, and its always my favorite sausages / polenta / chicken / potatoes etc. Its also as much as you can eat. I opted for salads and picking away at the better food. We were having a BBQ the next day, and I figured I'd reward myself with a couple of steaks after the race as a recovery food.

I slept alright. I don't usually sleep well the night before a race but what can you do? There was a 4-5am storm that came rolling through spilling a bunch of rain down. I figured this was a bad sign. I had heard that the course was fairly technical, and rain would just make everything slick. I got up and out at 8am. Small puddles here and there, but everything looked to be drying up. Though the humidity became a concern. Walking to my car I got a bit of a dose of how the rest of the day would be.

I got down to the City Tavern and signed in. Only 5 Singlespeed entrants. I knew of 2 of them. I figured knowing the caliber of riders on SS's. I had no choice but to resign myself to last or near bottom of my division. I could only place through mechanical failures. I don't wish those on anyone, they're demoralizing and expensive.. I would know. I'm sporting new cranks :(

I sat and talked to Frosti from MTBR for a while before heading out to the starting line. I never got to speak with him after that but I hope his race went fine.

I rode around for a good 30 min or so to warm up. I watched the kids race leave and then went looking for a hill to try a few times.

After my first hill, my rear brake started making some weird noise. Its then I realized I didn't pack any tools with me. So quickly back to my car, grab my park tools, air, etc. Fix the rear brake, and head off.

I got trolled hard by the event organizers. I started in Wave 1. I thought that was comedy. As I pulled into the lanes for the waves. I looked around and saw all 4 other SS riders. The other riders there were pretty skinny guys and looked pretty fit. At this point, my goal was completion in under 2H and not to get passed by any 2nd wave riders. I think I outweighed the entire first wave by 3lbs if you put them all on a scale together.

Horn sounded, and everyone in my wave is gone. I'm geared way to tall to keep up with them without spinning out. I am in front of one rider, and I catch another on the first hill. I don't manage to get in front of them, and my first section of single track is slow. I'm better at technical then they are as I almost run him over twice as I fly over logs and a few rock gardens. My turns for my first lap are pretty dominant, and I'm not on my brake as often as I usually am. I flow pretty well for a while and I finally pass the rider in front, and pull away in the next climb / single track section.

There was a section.. I think it was called mud lake. It was just a single track grind through an area. It wasn't boring by any means but it just seemed to go on forever. The first section of the track prior to this was pretty good. I redlined quite a bit trying to attack hills that I wasn't ready for. I did well making sure I got up them.

The one thing I noticed, is that it was rare to find a flat area... also there were rocks, and logs and roots and a whole world of tech everywhere. If you weren't paying attention, pedal strikes would wake you up pretty quickly. If pedal strikes didn't get you, it was rock garden.

Honestly it was just fun the entire way.

After the long section of straight single track the last section of the first lap *and also second* was a couple of grueling short power climbs and one entire single track section where it was just all rocks. It was kinda fun riding through it as it made clinking sounds like breaking plates would.

Around this time I ran out of water in my first water bottle. I got up and over a hill, and into the feed zone for part 2. I was handed a gatorade bottle. Cap wasn't on. I had to pound it within the first KM of my second lap. This proved to be my downfall of the day. The first part of the second lap was all open area so the sun was directly on me for a good 20 minutes, and it was all in what looked like a quarry. Just rocks radiating heat off them. Felt like I was in an oven. What was worse was that there was no real flat area. It was just hill after small hill, after small hill, after big rock, after small hill, after rock garden.. etc.

The final 4KM were brutal. I needed water, and I wanted to get off my bike so badly. The early signs of cramping also started to make everything seem harder then it actually was. I still had a smile on my face, but inside I was a hurting unit.

My family was there, so I had to at least finish strong, so I managed to spin pretty hard to the finish line. I was done though. I was off the bike and on the ground.

It was nice to have my family there. Seeing Meaghan and Anna at the start of my second lap was a huge mood lifter for me, and I really attacked the first part of the second lap hard. It was also nice to see them at the end of the entire thing as well.

I packed up the bike, stayed for the prizes and podium with my cousin, and then went back to my grandmothers for steak/beer/etc.

Couple of things:

1. No water makes your mind go senile. I saw a bottle on the ground, I considered seeing if it had anything in it... I also considered stopping by the canal.... yeesh.


2. Once you get to a certain point of dehydration, your legs are going to start to cramp. For the last 3k of the race my legs threatened to cramp, but never did full out. I could feel it in my quads, and every bump or log over seemed to irritate it into threatening me more. Never a full out cramp, but you could feel it in the shadow so to speak.


3. I need to get a proper hydration pack for XC racing. I have one, but its a massive all mountain style pack which ends up being like 20lbs once full of water and gear.

4. Apart from above. This was a very strong race for me. I never stopped moving forward, and I think I only ended up walking hills at the end when I was out of water.

Bike damage:

There were a lot of DNF's . The Kona held up very well. The only issue I have right now is that my front tire is YET AGAIN out of true, and as a bonus prize, my front tire no longer holds air. Needs some Stans, and a trip to the truing stand. Apart from that, it felt really good, and the lower air pressures really helped my grip in the rough stuff.

Final time was 2:05:30 on the bike. Properly hydrated I probably could have dropped that down to sub 2 hour. I was passed only by some of the faster riders in Wave 2, but it was rare. For 1 lappers, I coulda been in contention. But I wanted the second lap so I raced with the best they had there, and I'm better for doing it :)

Can't wait for this race again in 2012.