A note on "Form"

 My mileage has dipped in June. A few factors...ok excuses...are to blame. But that isn't what this post is about. This post is about something I noticed on my trainer ride the other night when it was down pouring.

FORM

First off, I am not an expert in anything. I have a lot of knowledge in many different aspects and a certain skill level in many different categories. So before you take what I am saying as knowledge, just understand that it is more of an observation on my part.

On my ride last week I noticed that my shoulders were rocking more than normal. I don't mean when climbing a hill or sprinting. I am talking about normal riding on a flat road. Not even riding hard, just a normal pace. 

I do understand some riders have more upper body motion than others. I think of Allesandra Keller as one that uses her whole upper body while climbing. Kate Courtney is another. When they are riding hard they are using their full upper body. I am no different. When I am riding hard or climbing I do the same thing. Very natural.

However, I normally have what I call a quiet upper body when riding. I noticed this many years ago. I was on the trainer and had a buddy riding his trainer next to me. I was static...he was swaying front to back like he was in a rocking chair. lol. It just seemed like he was using a lot more energy to spin than I was. 

Anyway, a month ago I had a lot less upper body movement than I did on this recent ride. What does it mean? well, to me it means I have lost some fitness. It make sense because of my dip in mileage. So it was something that I noticed. Doesn't really mean anything. Just felt like sharing. 

The Major Announcement

 

Guess what....Coast 2 Coast is in just a few short weeks. Less than 3 to be exact. 210 miles of gravel across this great state I live in. 

Unfortunately I will not be participating in 2021. The decision has been made. The reservations cancelled. The entry fee donated. Done deal.

It wasn't an overnight decision either friends. This has been on my mind for a long time and after suffering thru the Dirty Donut this past Sunday I knew it was time to just pull the trigger and throw in the towel. If it was just normal suffering on the bike I would have stayed in. But I had some major foot pain and some deep back pain that solidified my decision. Having to get off the bike and walk because your feet hurt during a 60 mile ride is one thing...but continuing that for 4x the distance....just a bad idea.

I have had some pretty major life stuff going on in the past few months as well. Things that have taken me off the bike and have attacked me mentally creating a lot of doubt and fatigue that has no other explanation other than being from the emotional side. Emotional fatigue that has created physical fatigue. That combo drove the final call.

So....now you know. I will not be there this year, but I very well could be there next year. Lighter. Stronger. More stable. That is yet to be determined. But this is the right call for me this year. 

I still have a handful of races on the schedule and will not be adding anymore. They are all 60ish miles each and I have a century or 2 scheduled as well. Riding will not stop by any means. Focus on the other hand....will continue to be on making progress and being a dad to my kids.

Keep those tires rolling. 

Dirty Donut Race recap

The closest race ever for me! The Dirty Donut is a whole 10 miles from my house. So the early morning consisted of breakfast and a short drive to Martin, MI. I arrived, picked up my packet, and headed to where the team was set up by the awards.

I was carrying my cooler and a guy goes "you carrying that the whole way today"....lol. It wasn't a bad idea. It was about 8am and was already mid 70s. I started my slow warmup around the parking lot. I did a quick loop around a neighborhood and headed to the start line.

I lined up in the 13-15mph group. I was more towards the front so I could join the fast group. This event is known for its minus donut time. Every donut you eat you get 5 minutes off of your time. But, I was signed up for the "sprint" division which means we didn't eat any. Thank GOD. more on that later.

The last few announcements and it was time to go!

Photo courtesy of Lisa P.

I joined into the back of the lead group and tried to settle in. In the pic above I was towards the back. However, I was holding on and we were cruising at 20 plus. We rolled thru Martin and closed in on US131. I was starting to fall back a bit, but still managed to close in when we turned toward the drag strip. Still pavement I was tucked in with a few guys as the main pack started to disperse.

We hit the gravel and made the turn West. I lost contact and tried to settle into my pace. At this point, my average speed was high and I was comfortable going at the clip I had. A few people passed and I just plodded along...at a decent speed.

At 1 hour I was over 16 miles in. My goal was to average 15. I was well over that and was still feeling pretty good. I passed the first donut station and heard a few people cheer. I was settled in and wasn't minding the terrain. Pretty flat honestly. I started closing in on Hopkins and the 2nd donut station. This is where my day really changed. I rolled thru Hopkins and this was where the 61 and 41 mile races split. I pushed onward and made a left hander back onto gravel. Dead. Legs felt like they were dead. The gravel turned a bit softer and I started to sink in. Some of the people that stopped for donuts went blowing past me and out of site. I pushed as hard as I could, but this is where my suffering began.

30 miles in I had to get off the bike and walk up a hill. I was actually thankful because my feet hurt. The balls of my feet were on fire and felt like they were being hammered on. So the walk was welcome. Reached the top and rolled on again. My average speed was sinking quickly. At 1 hour is was 16 plus....at 2 hours it was 15.....and at 3 it was quickly approaching 14. 

Mentally I was done. I stopped at the last donut stop and got some more water. It was making me feel ill watching people eat more donuts. lol. No thanks. Not in that heat. I slowly got back on and made the final push toward Martin. I was getting there....but my average speed was under 14 now. My goal time slipped by. I had no choice but to keep moving. Then I saw a rider coming on a road from my right. It was a rider from the short course.....and I thought I was suffering. They started 2 hours after me....and rode 1/3 of the miles.....yet I caught them. Whew.

Photo Courtesy of Lisa P.

I finally crossed 131 and started South on the last stretch. Then I saw the gas station at the Martin exit. Knowing I was almost done gave me a bit of a spark. That, and the finish was on pavement. Lisa got a pic of me on that final stretch. I heard some team members cheering and I made my last turn back onto the high school property. I saw a guy just tooling along and that gave me some incentive to destroy him. Sure....he had no idea I was coming....but I beat him. lol. 

I finished....over 30 minutes behind my goal time. 61 miles of torture. Some was mental. Some was physical. Some was heat. Some was wind. My team did super awesome and brought home hardware in the overall 41 miler, overall 22 miler, and some other categories. I took up Dead fucking last. I wanted to average 15 and was around 13.7 overall. They did give us all finishers medals....so I got my millenial participation trophy for a job....well done? I suppose.

It was hard day on the bike for me, but my only option was to finish. Lots of water and some snacks was the end of the day in Martin. A short trip home, shower, and a nap that didn't help. lol.

Next up is Cow Pie classic.....and hopefully not another 60 miles of suffering. Gotta figure something out because I am tired of feeling like dirt on these rides. See you all soon!

 

Hanson Hills 50.....that wasn't....

 While I figured this event would be a stretch....I don't think I was prepared for the outcome. Here is how the weekend went....

I will start with Thursday evening. I didn't get to bed until after midnight due to a family issue. All is ok now, but when duty calls...you gotta answer. So Friday I was already tired. I left work early and got home to load up the rest of the gear. We headed out of Allegan around 4pm. With an ETA of 7ish for Grayling. That number changed dramatically due to accidents in GR and the shockingly perverse amount of traffic on US-131. It was basically wall to wall traffic from Grand Rapids all the way to Cadillac where we finally made the turn onto 55. Relatively unscathed we arrived in Grayling and started setting up around 8:30. I was worn out....and ready for bed. We were going to have a fire but we were forgotten about and the wood wasn't delivered until 11:30. No worries, as I was in bed. However, I don't think I was asleep before 1am because the campground was pretty rowdy. Not wanting to be a complete douche....I dealt with it....and my own expense and ended up not getting much sleep Friday night either.

Saturday morning came and I was simply dragging ass. I pondered not even going sometime during the night. Then again this morning. Then on the way to Hanson Hills. Then again....and again....until that feeling faded and I was warming up. Then it was time to line up and we all crowded around the big bicycle at the entrance. Brent gave his last announcements and one of them would come back to haunt me. But more on that later...time to start.

It was about a 2 mile road rollout. It was stated to be a "controlled" start, however it was about half a mile before I was riding alone. The leadout was well over 20mph. Perhaps normal for a 50 mile mtb race, but way over a pace for me....even on pavement. Eventually a guy rolled up with me and we chatted around the rollout and back toward Hanson Hills. Then we dove into the back side of the property and started rolling across the grass behind the lodge. At this point, my power was already lacking.

We started down the 2 tracks and eventually into the singletrack. Mark looked over his shoulder and wished me luck before disappearing around a corner. A few other people caught me but I was pretty much riding alone. I plodded along at my pace. I eventually reached a hill where I couldn't power up it and got off to walk. A 10 year old kid powered past me and went out of sight with his dad on his wheel. Alone again, I just simply rode what I could. My pace was slow. Zero power and quickly losing interest I found myself starting to ponder other events. 

I was moving slow and decided I needed a drink....then while putting the bottle back lost a bit of concentration and drifted left. The bar smacked a tree...followed closely by my left forearm. Sure, beat a guy when he is already down. LOL. At this point....I was like..."well....this is gonna be a long day". I was finding sparks of life every now and then, but I was still losing time every mile. The woods gave way to some clearings on the military property and some huge log piles. Add in some incredibly deep ruts and I didn't really know what to think. My brain was all over the place. Like...this is cool....those assholes kept me up....look at those logs......I am freaking tired and still have a long way to go....the Lorax is gonna pop out at any time......you know....stuff like that.

Then I rolled into the aid station. I was struggling, but kept going. I caught that little 10 year old punk there. He was kicking back a coke. About a mile later he blew past me again. lol. Strong dude for sure. Awesome to see him out there with his dad chasing him. Having only ridden Hanson Hills once I didn't really have a feel for where I was. I did ponder stopping and making a straight line back to the parking lot. lol. Again, I was struggling. I pushed on. And started to recognize a few things. Then eventually I realized I was on the last long climb of the lap. This is a long brutal climb. I walked. No way. 

Before that climb I did get lapped. Mile 20 was the first culprit. Dude finished 50 miles faster than I did 25. LOL. I am not a climber, but this race was hard for a number of reasons. Mainly the lack of sleep. 

I finally crested the last hill and bombed down into the field behind the lodge. And then passed the lodge....ugh. Can't I just be done. nope. One more nasty loop around the grass before diving back in behind the lodge and seeing the finish/lap line. I crossed the line in 3 hours and 28 minutes. One of the last announcements that was made that the cutoff would be 1 pm. That means....I missed the cutoff by nearly 30 minutes. Saving me from another 3 or 4 hours of torture. 

Overall it was pretty eye opening. I knew Hanson was hilly, and my biggest flaw is that I am a heavy rider. 100 percent my own doing. Yes, I am a lot stronger and have plenty of endurance.....but when the terrain tilts uphill.....I struggle. I know this weakness....and I need to fix it. But....it is what it is right now.

So I missed the cutoff and headed back to the campground. I did muster a 17 mile ride on Sunday with SJ so that was good. But I am very grateful I removed my name from the LJ100 wait list....as I would now be IN and I am just not in a place to try that event again. But, that doesn't mean things are over yet. Dirty Donut is this Sunday and Cow Pie classic is the following Saturday. Meaning only a few more weekends until Coast 2 Coast. I am still not 100% I am going to attempt it, but at this point.....why not. Everything is booked and final plans are coming into place. 

See you all soon. Keep on pedaling.