11 Miles Around The Parking Lot

Now this ride is almost embarrassing. Coach had me scheduled for a nice intensity workout last week (oxymoron suddenly springs to mind, but I digress). 8x30 second all-out sprints, necessitating a decent amount of uninterrupted, relatively flat runway. I had previously done this type of workout down at the Veloway, but the drive from my new office could be close to an hour during rush hour. Looking for somewhere closer to my new digs, I soon realized that the massive parking lot might just work.

Not the most appealing ride, but way better than driving through rush-hour traffic or sprinting along a major highway next to aforesaid traffic.

So here we have it. My little stretch of sprint runway.

 

I had to thoroughly warm-up and cool-down, so spent a fair amount of time “exploring” the lot. As you’ll see from the GPS profile, there was a lot of looping around. I started around 5pm on a Friday night, so the parking lot was pretty empty. It was actually kinda fun zipping around, grinning at the bemused expressions on the few folks I saw. I was half expecting security to come out and ask what the heck I was doing, so I had my ID clipped to my jersey. HaHa. What a geek!

Total distance covered – just over 11 miles.

In a parking lot

What Was I Thinking!

Homemade Energy Bars

My expertise in the kitchen is somewhat limited, to put it mildly. Boiling pasta or firing up the rice cooker is about as close to cooking as I get. When Coach pointed me to this incredibly easy recipe for energy bars, I “ate it up”. It’s a super healthy, easy to prepare snack that I keep on hand for the inevitable munchies.

Take a look at this video & you’ll see how easy it is to prepare.

The original recipe is as follows:
- 3 cups of uncooked Oatmeal (Quaker Oats)
- 1 cup of dried mixed fruit, chocolate chips, fruit bits, or favorite ingredient
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar or molasses
- 1 cup Honey
- 8 ounces of non fat vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup of apple sauce
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons of skim milk
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Spread out in a lightly greased baking pan and bake @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 28-30 minutes.

I’ve experimented a few times and made the following changes:
- Exchange the Quaker Oats for an organic multigrain blend of rolled oats. I use a 4 grain mix from Whole Foods
- Add an additional 1 cup total of raw organic pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds & kamut
- Add an additional 1/2 cup of spelt flour
- Omit the brown sugar/molasses – waay too sweet for my taste
- Use Agave Nectar instead of Honey
- Use Belgian yoghurt instead of the regular Vanilla yoghurt – I just love the tart taste
- Double the quantity of apple sauce

I’m making bars just for me, so I’ll use half the quantity of ingredients. It’s sooo easy to prepare and great to have on hand.

Now I’m starting to salivate. Time to go munch on an energy bar.

Enjoy!

Don’t Think, Just Be…

I’m pretty sure if Bruce Lee had been a mountain biker, he’d have had some philosophical mantra along the lines of “Don’t think about being in the groove, just be in the groove”.

Have you noticed this phenomenon? You’ve been out on the trail for a while, nicely warmed up, hitting all the lines, railing the corners, a grin on your face. You know the feeling.

You’re in the groove!

Your subconscious mind is seemingly connected directly to your body, instinct takes over, tunnel vision sets in, you only hear your breathing, the whirr of your rear hub and the swoosh of the tires as they cut a perfect line around the corners.

Then your conscious mind notices what’s happening. It’s like a spectator thinking “wow, now that dude’s an awesome rider”. Suddenly you are observing yourself in the groove. You really aren’t there any more – if you were, you wouldn’t notice…

That’s usually when stuff figuratively hits the fan and you physically hit the ground. At high speed. Ouch.

Yup, that was my ride on Sunday. Railing a berm I’ve railed numerous times before without thinking about it. And then I went and thought about it. Damn! The resultant shin, knee and quad carnage wasn’t pretty. Luckily today’s my day off so we’ll see how things look for tomorrow’s session.

So if you find yourself observing how well you are riding, rather than just riding well, chances are high that the next thing you’ll be thinking about is picking yourself up off the ground.

And because this is a mountain biking proverb, there has to be a gratuitous picture of my personal carnage. As Coach so succinctly put it

“Nice, that’s gonna leave a mark!”

Solo 24 Hour World Championships

Wow!

The 24 Solo World Championships - what a hell of an event. I had no idea how big it would be. Thousand of people descended on the Nordic Center in Canmore, home of the 1988 Winter Olympics. It was a superb venue surrounded by beautiful scenery. The team at 24 Hours of Adrenalin did an incredible job!

 

In addition to the 100+ solo racers, the event included a team relay with approx 1600 competitors. The soloists had a separate, more challenging course,  occasionally merging with the team riders for short stretches. The soloists universally agreed it was one of the toughest courses they’d ever ridden. Lucky me! Starting at 4400ft and rising just over 5000 feet, each lap was around 2000 ft of elevation gain over 10 miles. The singletrack was very tight and twisty and covered in roots, so it was pretty hard to get a really good flow going. Climbing up really steep, twisty ascents over roots is a bitch, and the descents were brutal on the upper body. Fun times. NOT.

Fortunately, I was sharing a pit with my new Coach, Shaun. This would be his third World Championship and he was out to win with a vengeance. Man was he keyed up and ready to race. We snagged a really sweet pit location amongst the top seeded pros, and directly opposite the exit from the timing  tent. Here’s Shaun’s video of our pit.

 

The start was Le Man’s style, with the soloists lining up according to seeding and age groups. Surrounded by spectators ringing cow bells and U2’s “The Streets Have No Name” blaring over the PA, the volume was pretty high and just kept getting higher as the countdown got closer to zero. Bang. Off went the gun and we jogged about 1500m around the initial part of the curse and back into the solo pit row. I was pooped just from the run! “I thought this was supposed to be a mountain bike race” I whined to myself.

I think the socks really helped with the run though :-)

 

We jumped on our bikes, headed out of pit row and the race began in earnest. My strategy was to keep pit stops after each lap to an absolute minimum, which I was able to keep to throughout the race. Most of my stops were between 30 seconds and 4 minutes, with just enough time to swap out bottles. I’m racing with all liquid custom endurance blends from Infinit, so don’t eat anything throughout the race. The longest pit stop was 12 minutes when I swapped out batteries during the night.

Pacing is critical in the first 6 hours or so, as it’s easy to go out too fast and blow up early. I did get carried away on lap four and lit it up with Steve Swenson, the guy I eventually beat out for 4th place. We met at the pre-race meeting, so knew we’d be head-t0-head in the same category. We had a blast racing each other on a twisty downhill, but I regretted it later. You only have so many matches to burn in a race, and it wasn't smart to burn one early “having fun”. Live and learn. I was also climbing pretty much everything, and spinning past folks who elected to walk. In hindsight, this wasn’t the smartest approach, riding up some of the really steep twisty climbs, where pushing would have used a different set of muscles and given my quads a little rest. Ahem.

As you’ll see from my Garmin’s elevation profile, the climbing was pretty intense. It doesn’t show all the laps as the Garmin’s batteries don’t last long enough!

Considering how aggressively I was riding, I was pretty happy I had no crashes throughout the entire race. No major mechanicals either. I suffered a serious chain suck around hour 21 which took about twenty minutes to fix. Trying to pull the chain out of the spokes when you can barely stand up is an exercise in frustration! Oh yeah, my bottle cage snapped off on lap one and I had to cable-tie it to the frame. It actually worked out nicely, as I angled the cage slightly to the right so it was easier to get the bottle in and out.

One aspect of racing alongside the relay riders is that the vast majority would say something along the lines of “nice job solo” when passing. Kinda nice. You’d get the occasional “you guys are nuts” to which I’d agree profusely :-)

The first 20 hours were pretty uneventful and just a matter of turning the pedals, staying focused and not letting the fatigue get to your head. 24’s are so much more of a mental game. Every now and again I’d repeat my mantra, “Keep Pushing, Stay Tough” when it was getting particularly hard. One of the things that kept me going was knowing that I had a bunch of ride buddies “pulling for me” back in Austin. I actually printed out and laminated one of the MoJo posts, and hung it outside the pit for inspiration. It may sound cheesy, but that kind of things really helps.

 

Coming in to the pit is always gives you a shot of energy and is something I looked forward to more and more as the race progressed. I didn’t have my own pit crew, but was lucky enough to have Shaun’s wife Doreen and her father, George, adopt me. They are old pros in the pit, having done many events for Shaun, and they made my brief stops a real pleasure. George and I would ritually “bump fists” just as I left. I think he really got a kick out of it – I know it made me grin :-)

 

This particular event didn’t allow iPods, so I was music free which was a mixed blessing. It was easier to stay focused, critical on the gnarly descents, but the fatigue is harder to ignore when there are no musical distractions. I’m so glad U2was playing at the Le Mans start, as I had that song in my head for the entire race. I had a brief patch where “The wheels on the bus go round and round” popped into my mind, but I managed to shake that out. Phew.

One interesting phenomenon I noticed during the race was that my heart rate got gradually lower as the race progressed. I’d be climbing the same gnarly uphill that had my heart rate in the 160s at the start, and later in the race it would be in the 120s. Weird. Here’s the profile from the first17 hours.

After lap 12 I was still feeling OK. I began lap 13 and my fatigue went up precipitously. I’m not sure why exactly, as there are so many factors in play. It’s possible I just ran out of energy reserves. At race pace, I’m only able to ingest around 220 calories an hour before my stomach rebels. When you are burning 600+ calories, there’s an immediate deficit that it’s impossible to catch up on.  Bottom line was that lap 13 hit me hard, and I starting pushing the bike up climbs I’d ridden earlier. Maybe if I'd walked them in earlier laps I’d have been OK. Who knows? By the time I started lap 14, I was pretty toasted.

At the end of that lap, I was still in 4th place and had to decide whether to go out again. If I’d gone back out I had plenty of time to put in another lap. My riding on lap 14 had started to become sloppy and I was close to hitting trees on a number of occasions, so I rationalized that it would be prudent to call it a day (night?). I was too far behind the 3rd place racer to catch up, and about 30 minutes ahead of Steve in 4th place, so I elected to sit down and see where the cards fell. He rode in 30 minutes later looking just as toasted, came over to me and said “so are you ready for another lap” (clearly he wasn’t), to which I replied “absolutely, I was just taking a breather”. He grinned, stuck out his hand and we congratulated each other on a great race. Needless to say, he didn’t go out again and I kept 4th position. If he’d gone back out again, would I have jumped back on my bike? Probably. But I’m sure glad I didn’t have to!

It didn’t really hit me that I was done until Shaun came in a short while later. When he sat down next to me, the fatigue really hit and I pretty much collapsed into a chair. Man was that an awesome feeling!! Shaun had a fantastic race and built up a commanding lead over the other racers in his category. He was so far ahead that he took his time in the pits, including one 45 minute stop before Doreen “coaxed” him out– I think it involved some veiled references to being a slacker ;) He trained hard, raced hard and his 1st place winner’s jersey was well deserved. Great job Coach!

We hung around in the pit for a while decompressing and chatting while Doreen prepared yummy banana and peanut butter tortilla wraps. The first “real” food I’d eaten in 24 hours.  Following that, I focused on getting as many calories into me as I could stomach to optimize recovery, take a shower, leg massage with The Stick and nap before the awards ceremony that evening.

Here’s a shot of Stuart Dorland, the man behind 24 Hours of Adrenalin, toasting the racers that night.

Cheers to you Stuart – that was an experience I’ll never forget.

When The Student Is Ready…

As you’ll see from my prior post, I’d gotten it in my head that I should try a 24 Hour Solo mountain bike race. 12 hours seemed OK, what not 24? HaHa. I had no idea what I was doing, (but then that’s never stopped me before) so I signed up for a solo spot in 24 Hours In The Canyon, being held in Palo Duro at the end of May. That gave me a few months to figure things out. In the mean time, I started looking for other endurance races I could compete in before then. I had been told that the Ouachita Challenge was a great endurance race, but registration had already passed & it typically fills up within hours of opening. Luckily, a MoJo buddy couldn’t use his spot, so I was able to transfer in.

It was at the OC that I met Shaun for the first time. You know the Buddhist proverb, “When The Student is ready, The Teacher will appear”. I didn’t know it at the time, but Shaun was The Teacher.

I’d arrived at the race the night before after a 9 hour drive, and was chatting with other bikers outside registration. I overheard a badass looking racer talking about the 24 Hour Solo World Championships. Naturally that piqued my interest, so I introduced myself. Little did I know that he was a serious ultra-endurance racer who’s experience and knowledge of the subject was off the charts. I later found out that he’d taken 2nd place in a 48 Hour Solo Race just a few months prior. That’s right, 48 Hour Solo! Geez.

We chatted for a while & I picked his brain for as much information about 24 solo’s as possible. I saw him again briefly the next day during the race meeting. Needless to say, I didn’t see him thereafter, as he disappeared with the leader pack as soon as the gun went off. My race was pretty uneventful, and I did OK except for losing 30 minutes after two flat tires. Sprinting through rock gardens isn’t the smartest strategy… After the race I headed home and my thoughts quickly moved to planning for my first 24 Hour Solo.

Turns out there aren’t too many good resources available describing how to train for and race a 24 Hour Solo. Oh crap! Now what the heck do I do?

A few weeks pass by and I get an email out of the blue from Shaun. He’d gone to the trouble of tracking me down to see how I was doing. Nice guy! We exchanged a few emails and the subject of the 24 Hour Solo World Championships came up. Turns out that my placing at the Dirty Dozen race had qualified me to apply for a spot in the race. Whoa. Now that’s a bigger step than I’d previously planned on. Shaun was heading to his third World Championships so knew a thing or two about race prep.

That’s when the “offer” came. If I was seriously committed to racing at Worlds, and was prepared to do whatever it took to “make it happen”, then he’d become “The Coach”.

You know the scene from The Matrix when Morpheus offers Nero the Red and Blue pills.

I took the Red pill… What Was I Thinking!

The next few months were, as Coach put it, a Kamikaze dive bomb of ass whipping training 6 days a week, and a fire hose education. After taking the top spot at 24 Hours In The Canyon, and with Coach’s incredible guidance, I found myself on a plane for Canada.

Next stop, the 24 Hour Solo World Championships.

What Was I Thinking!

I’ve found myself asking that question a lot recently. You see, I’m a Mountain Biker  (queue the mean grimacing face). Grrrr. You know the type - baggy shorts, garish jersey, lots of armor, full face helmet, slack head angle. Or I thought I was one. Now I’m not so sure…

So I’d been futzing around on various mountain bikes for years, mostly riding solo, occasionally riding more than once a week (hardcore!), the usual weekend warrior stuff. Then I moved to Austin and things started to slowly change. It started innocuously enough. I’d be riding more often, maybe two or three times a week, still solo as I hadn’t hooked up with other riders. Yet. Then I stumbled onto the the Austin MoJo community and found myself drinking the MoJo Koolaid (the fermented variety) and heading out on group rides to explore the numerous Austin trails that had otherwise been eluding me. I eventually found myself on one of Austin Bike’s famous Sunday BCGB (Barton Creek Greenbelt) tours. Typical tours last 4+ hours and cover 20+ miles trail at a social pace. And the first tour kicked my ass – it was probably twice as long as I’d ever ridden before. Ahh, the good old days when 4 hours was a nice long ride. But I digress.

I think that’s when it all started to go awry. I kept wanting to go faster (understandable) and much longer (questionable). I’d turn up early to get more ride time in, and keep going when the group quit. It wasn’t too long before I’d extend the rides to 6,7 sometimes 10 hours. And I’d effectively be riding solo again. There was a nasty trend here that I just didn't notice…

On a whim, I decided to enter a 40 mile MTB race at Camp Eagle, part of the TMBRA marathon series. I was still wearing the baggies & garish jersey, but decided to drop the armor & full-face helmet just for the race :) I didn’t do particularly well, but came sprinting over the finish line with more energy than the Tasmanian Devil, feeling like I was just getting warmed up. I guess my pacing left a little to be desired!

At this point, I was starting to at least notice the trend, but didn’t realize how insidious it had become. I started to look around for longer races and came across an upcoming 12 Hour race called the Dirty Dozen. A couple of MoJo buddies were racing as a relay team and asked me to join them. Naw. I think I’ll try it solo, says me. You’re nuts, they reply. Yup.

I had no idea about racing a 12 hour event. I turned up with enough Nutri-Grain bars to feed a small relay team, a jar of Peanut Butter and some honey. I’d read somewhere that PB&J sandwiches were good in long races, but I didn’t eat bread so figured I’d just spoon out the PB & squirt the honey directly into my mouth. Hey, it worked.

The race went surprisingly well, and I was getting into a groove after about 8 hours of riding. I didn’t pay much attention to lap times or other riders, just blithely rode around in circles. I didn’t even know how the final laps were handled, so when I found out I could keep riding longer than 12 hours, I though what the heck. Night riding is fun, I’m feeling good, so I’ll just keep on going.

After 12:34 time hours on the clock, I finally came in and called it a day. I still had no idea where I was in the standings, or even how many laps I’d done. I killed some time chatting with one of the photographers (he recognized me as the nutter who always stuck his tongue out when a camera was pointed at him!). Just before the awards were about to start, I decided it was time for a quick bio-break. I was just about to open the Porta Potty door, when I heard my name being announced on the PA. Huh? I sprinted back to the awards area, where I realized that the announcer was holding a plaque out for me. Turns out that I had completed the same number of laps as the 2nd place rider (albeit taking a lot longer to do it!).  I wasn’t expecting that.

It was around this point that a little light bulb went off in the old noggin. Hmm, so I just turned up to this 12 hour race knowing virtually nothing about the event, with zero training, and did OK. Huh. Maybe I could do more of these? You know, I’ve heard about these 24 hour races. Maybe I should look into one of those.

What Was I Thinking!

To Be Continued…