2023 Barry Roubaix Race Recap

 This event is always massive. Hastings get taken over when 4500 plus racers show up to test their mettle on the gravel roads of Barry County. Barry Roubaix has been a great event from the start, and it just keeps getting better. 

I woke up plenty early and loaded up the TCX to make the short drive over. I arrived in town just after 8am. I like to get there early to get a better parking spot. I found 1 just a block over from the team tent area. I was also just a block away from Ace Hardware, so packet pickup was super close. I wandered over to the entrance and waited in a short line. Once inside I had to swing into the 62 mile aisle of registered riders, and there was no other riders in there. I snagged my number and went to grab my poster. I got back to my car around 8:30. With a start time after 11 I had a lot of time to kill. 

Sitting there I could sense that I was feeling nervous. I still don't fully understand why I was feeling like this. I had zero flutters last week at Dirty 30, so this seemed odd to me. I decided to just roll around on the bike and see the sights. I ran into Lisa and a few others that I chatted with for a while. I headed back to the car again and was feeling somewhat better....but still had time to kill. I did go down the course a few blocks to watch the 36 milers start. Then headed back to town to finish gearing up and starting a warmup.

Warmup. HA. It was already warm and knowing I had 65 miles ahead of me I didn't want to do a typical warmup. So I just kind of rolled the loop a few times then headed towards the start chute. I was wave 4, so I moved to the side and waited for my wave. Then it was time to start.

We rolled up to the banner and I was towards the back of the wave. We started and this wave was way different than my previous Barry races. People were just cruising, not really racing. The group was spread out right away and I was trying to find a rhythm. Made the turn to the 3 sisters and was hoping for the best. First sister passed pretty good. Second sister was a bit tougher, but I made it. Third....I was halfway up and thought I was going to make it. Got just off to the right and lost momentum. Had to walk. Not an uncommon occurrence for me on this hill. 

Crested the last sister and I bombed the next section. I passed a lot of people on that next stretch to the M43 crossing....where we got stopped...again. This has happened the last 3 times I have raced out here. I know its a busy road, but stopping and waiting during a race is the worst feeling ever. We got rolling again and I eventually made it to the dairy farm climb. Usually I can make this climb, but my heart rate was going super high and I had to walk a bit again. Again, not uncommon...

Things were pretty uneventful for the next portion. The 18 mile course split off and the number of riders thinned down. There was a string of riders ahead of me as far as I could see, but not any sort of groups. I got to the part of the course where I thought we would make the right hand turn towards Gun Lake Road. Instead (despite my course knowledge) we went straight. This road took us another mile out and then turned us back onto Shaw Road. This is another Sager style seasonal road with lots of sand. I rode what I could, but I watched my average speed go from OK to OH NO in the course of one and a half miles. It took the wind out of my sails for sure.

Once we reached the end of Shaw it hits Gun Lake Road right at the bottom of the long climb. I just was trying to find some sort of rhythm and this climb was tough. I cleared the top and used the downhill to recover. This section up to Sager road is good for recovery. I got to Sager and it was tough as usual. I rode what I could, walked the rest. Still watching my average speed drop was starting to bother me mentally. 20 miles in, and I had doubts creeping in.

By the time I hit The Wall at mile 25 I was mentally tanked. I texted Christine and was just done. By mentally tanked I mean....self deprecating....self loathing....stupid and untrue thoughts. I was in that place mentally where I question everything. Questioning why I even ride a bike. Terrible. More on this later.

I was ready to call SAG. I figured I would keep going to 30 miles and see how it went. I was not feeling any better, and because I mentally tanked my physical side was done too. I got to just under 31 miles and called for a ride. I knew that there was no way I could go another 30 plus miles in the frame of mind I was in. So I got a DNF.  It happens. 

Tough day on the bike. Made harder by my lack of mental fortitude on this ride. This happens, but the level that I went to was unacceptable. Thankfully that defeated feeling didn't last long. It was more in the moment that I was super struggling and I let myself believe the negative self talk and I sabotaged myself. Self sabotage is one of my biggest weaknesses. Christine helped snap me back to reality with words of encouragement and positivity. Other people offered insight too and that was also helpful. By the time I got home I was doing better mentally. I wasn't pounding myself into the dirt anymore. I wasn't questioning the reasons I ride. I was just tired and worn out. 

Christine and I talked about nutrition a lot that night. How I felt so different after a month of eating clean versus a week of not so clean. A successful 50 miler versus a very tough 30 miles. Clean vs Dirty. We talked thru a lot of things and started to work thru the muck. How mentally I spiraled down and how my nutrition influenced that spiral. I plan to post more about this in the future. Need to do some more research to fully understand the correlation for myself. Witnessing it in myself makes me pay more attention to things. I guess some lessons are best learned the hard way. 

So this isn't a setback by any means. Just a bad day. I can learn from it. I actually already have. I move forward. Lumberjack is just under 9 weeks out. I have time to anchor myself mentally. Come along for the ride....

Barry Roubaix Preview

 Why do I do this to myself?

I could start every morning like this. A single decision when I was 17 would have made my life look entirely different now....but we won't open that can of worms. lol.

Barry Roubaix is this Saturday. This event has always been great. It has turned into quite the spectacle over the years. This year I saw there are over 4500 racers....which means on Saturday the population of Hastings will likely double. If every racer brings 1 person with them, there will be an additional 9,000 people in a town of roughly 7500 people. Pretty amazing. Even more amazing that they seem to welcome this event with open arms. 

So why the prequel post? 

Well, let me start with the image below.....

Not only is it 62....its actually almost 65 with about 5,000 feet of climbing. Yikes. 

76.9 feet of climbing per mile. In comparison 45.9 feet per mile in the Dirty Thirty. 

First off, this was going to be a huge test to begin with. A few extra miles shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I just need to ride my ride and get to the finish line. 

The turn off will mess me with mentally. When I reach the Head Lake and Wilkins road intersection I normally turn left. This intersection marks about 10 miles to go in the 36 mile race. Instead I will go straight ahead and have 40ish miles to go. Significant difference here. 

Here is where 2 things happen. First, the number of people on course will drop off. Of the 4579 people registered (as of 4-13-2023) only 1267 of them are on the 62 mile course. I can assure you that 95% of these people will be long gone for me by the split point. Let's be honest, I am not one of those strong riders that holds 18+ mph on gravel. I will take the company I have for the first 25 miles and then likely ride in solitary for the remaining miles.

Second, I have NEVER seen this course. Riding a long distance blind is going to be interesting. Yes I have done this before, but I like to have an idea of what I am doing. I was doing some you tube searching and found a video where the guy stated exactly what I said above. He offered a bit of insight, but....a lot can happen in 40 miles.

Lastly, there is another adder with the new private property section that Mr. Acker decided to add in this year. This is what pushed the course from 62 to nearly 65. 

 Taking a closer look....it appears it could be anything from sand, to gravel, to dirt, to pine needles. 

Then the last section that looks like we are riding thru someone's yard....

So when the unknown starts....it should be interesting.

With all this being said....what does it all mean? It means I will be out there doing what I can to get to the finish line. I am staring at a 5+ hour day in the saddle....and that is if things go right. Mentally I prepared for that, physically....we will see. Weather looks almost too warm. Road reports are all positive. Now its up to me.

Hard goal time is sub 5 hours. Realistically I will say 5:15 as finishing goal. If things go sideways I will do my best to be under 5:30. 

Not fast....but that isn't what this is about for me. Personal achievement. Personal success. All these things are measured differently. At some point this year those goals will change and will be competitive in some events. This event is training. Pushing myself. Testing. Refining. Gaining knowledge. Climbing those rungs of the success ladder. This is the foundation what will hold that ladder in place so I can keep climbing towards the top.

See you Saturday. 

Rode (road) along the Ocean

 Last week for Spring Break we headed down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since we were driving I loaded up my road bike to get some riding in warmer weather. I brought my gopro, but made the mistake of leaving the memory card at home, so no videos. 

I did a bit of research before we headed down. In hindsight I wish I had brought my fatty too so I could have done some beach riding. I also could have ridden the small trails they have in the area. Instead, I knew there were bike lanes and plenty of wider paved trails around the area. 

I headed out on a few rides and utilized the bike lanes. Everyone gave me plenty of space. Honestly the only issue I had was people walking in the bike lane. Note I said walking, not exercising. People would just wander into the street oblivious to their surroundings. Tourists...lol. Overall, not a bad experience.

One ride I headed inland and didn't really like that too much. Bike lanes would end and I was caught riding on road that were busier than I prefer. But it sure felt good to get out and ride in the sun. First ride was a success.

Second ride I headed up the coast. Used the bike lane until it ended. Rode all the way to North Myrtle beach. Just felt good to be along the water in the sun. I left pretty early knowing that the 'tourists' would be burying the downtown area pretty early. Also didn't want to ride in the warmest part of the day. Michigan winter skin versus Ocean Sun....you know. lol. 

Overall a few good rides while on vacation. Next time I will bring the fat bike and just ride the beach. Would be a better experience. I snagged a few pics on my rides. Take a look!

These pics below look like fall, but I promise they are from March. Such a different climate down here. 

This one was an oddity. I ran into this situation twice down there. I was riding on a road with a marked bike lane when all of a sudden it was an on-ramp to a 4 lane highway. No warning other than the yield sign. This was the point I turned around and headed back to the condo. 

On my first ride I was riding a paved trail. It ended and turned into what you see below. I saw where the clearing ended and just kept going for a bit. The trail never hit another road. It dumped me inside a gated community thru the back door. lol. I managed to get out, but was confused as to why the trail simply ended the way it did.

This was a waterway I crossed on that first ride as well. The bridge was a rotating style draw bridge. I rode across and then decided to turn back as the road narrowed. When I came back across I saw the bridge operator coming down to see where I went. He waved and kind of pointed that a boat was coming, which I missed. I heard the siren go off a minute after I was off the bridge and it opened. I missed a photo though. 

Unlike the West coast of Michigan, the image below is the East Coast of the United States. I do prefer the sunsets over the sunrises....but the water is always calming.

Dirty 30 Recap (Filthy 50 edition)

 Race season for me has begun. 

This edition takes me back to the Dirty 30 in Saranac, MI. My first time racing here was 2012, check the recap by clicking here. 

Day started off like normal. I was packed up and ready the night before. Always best to try to be prepared. I was up and heading North by 7am. The drive up was uneventful. I got to Saranac just before 8am and swung into the church to park. I rolled down to registration where the line was very short. I asked if I could change my category because I missed that there was a "clyde" option during signup. The dude told me that when Raymond got back he could help me (more on this later). I opted to just head back to the car and figured I would try later. 

With a 10am start I had some time to just relax. I just kind of hung out and watched the parking lot fill up. Eventually it was time to get ready. I geared up and headed out for a warmup. I felt like I was dressed right, because temps were still in the 30's. I was comfortable, without having too many layers and being overdressed. It was funny as I rolled into the intersection by Dollar General....riders and cars everywhere. It has a very 'zwift' feel to it with the riders just blending in together and passing each other. Real life is much better.

I took this video of the swollen river. Hopefully the clarity is there. With the rain storm last week all of the rivers were very high. This one was extremely high. 

I headed over to the start area and realized I was on the wrong side. Looped around and headed into the chute. It was hard to hear the announcer because the speakers were facing away towards the parking log. Thankfully I was in the start chute on time and ready to get going.  In the pic below you can see the partly cloudy skies with a bit of a breeze. Great day for a race.

They fired the start...extinguisher (I guess...it was a steam or water signal of some sort) and it was time to go. Knowing I had 50 miles ahead of me, I didn't want to start fast.....like I ever do anyway. ha! The first section out of town is paved and has just a touch of elevation. Right away the lead pack was leaving me, as expected. We made the first turn towards a school and eventually the pavement gave way to dirt....and another hill. Gone. Lead pack was gone. I was less than 2 miles in and was basically riding alone. Just a few stragglers here and there stretching out ahead of me. There were a few behind me as well, but I was just there to finish.

The biggest thing here was the potholes. The roads surely were in rough shape from the sheer amount of rain in the previous week. Riding in a group could have been dangerous, because riding alone was sketchy enough for me. I was just chugging away when I heard a bigger group coming. I knew it was the 30 miles gaining. I heard a "keep up the work Seany" as Munson ripped past in front of the group. They passed me like I was sitting still, but I swear I was moving. lol.

Miles 10-20 were uneventful. Around the 18 mile mark the courses split and I was even more alone than before. Alone with my thoughts I started to calculate when I would be turning back towards town. They had 12 to go, so that gives me another 20 miles...so in 10 miles I will turn back to Saranac and when I reach the connection I should have 12ish miles to go. All good, just keep chugging.

Somewhere in the low 20's I saw another rider ahead of me. I heard 2 guys behind me chatting and they went ripping past a second later. I realized I had passed them earlier when one had a flat. Didn't take long before they were gone too. Seeing I was gaining on the rider in front of me gave me some hope. I kept my speed best I could and around mile 25 I finally reeled her in. Told her good job and I just kept chugging along. 

This was the moment I realized that I forgot my food bars in the car. NOT GOOD. I was halfway into my race and realized I didn't have any energy with me. No aid stations that I was aware of....this was going to be a long afternoon. Thankfully I did have a Stinger waffle with me, or this story would have ended tragically. 

The road out here turned to a super hard packed white gravel. Still some potholes, but way less than the others. This was where I had to use some nerve. 44ish miles in....there was a massive descent. I touched the brakes....worrying about potholes...but then let off and just decided to gamble. At the bottom of the hill I hit 43.5 mph! Simply hauling. I don't know if I have ever hit that speed on a bike before, let alone on pothole riddled gravel. Sketchy. But I survived and it was a blast!

Happy feeling gone. At mile 46 I made a right hand turn onto Ivan. This 3/4 mile segment has 200 feet of climbing. At this point my legs were already torched and I was starting to run out of gas. No shame, I walked a big portion of this section. No choice. I am still not a climber and this was my longest ride of the year. Also, if you remember, I didn't have any caloric input other than a waffle. So dumb. lol. I made it to the top and the volunteers the top gave me words of encouragement. Thanks for that, it was appreciated!

The next few miles were kind of a blur. Before I knew it I was making the last right hand turn towards the finish line. There was a guy on a unicycle that I destroyed the last 100 yards. (small victories). lol. Was cool that he rode and finished, I am unsure of his distance. What a cool thing do accomplish.

I finished. Out of gas and out of energy. I was happy with my finish for a few reasons. First, I finished. Secondly, I was actually faster than I figured I would be. Not as fast as 2021, but a lot has happened since then. I will take the solid finish and build on it next weekend at Barry Roubaix.  

The kicker....remember that I was going to change classes to the 'Clyde' category? Well guess what....I would have been on the podium in 3rd place if I was able to change. My own fault, and an opportunity missed to make some Sean history. Lesson learned. When I went back to change categories the line was a few hundred people deep. I would have missed my start if I tried to change. So kind of bittersweet. I wasn't last.....but I didn't get rewarded for my efforts. :(

Barry Roubaix is next...and I will do a blog on that soon. 62 miles with 2x the climbing should be interesting. See you guys there!

Progress, and thankfulness

 I will start off by sending a big KUDOS to everyone that raced in the Melting Mann this past Saturday. Temps were in the 30's with a steady dose of rain and snow falling all morning. The pics from just the parking lot were terrible. Pics from the course were not any better. So, good job to all of you that raced, volunteered, or cheered for this event. I was home....in a warm bed. I am very thankful that I didn't sign up for 60 plus miles of slop in this event. Bullet....dodged.

In my last post I mentioned a ride in the rain. But that was on pavement. Gravel is a whole different animal in the rain. No thanks. That being said, it was raining again (as I mentioned above) this past Saturday. I opted to ride indoors. Training called for a 2 hour ride. I looked thru Zwift and found the Eastern Eight. A nice 32 mile ride thru the dessert and forest. Not a terrible route with a long flat run into the Titans. Then a solid climb up Titans Grove KOM. You then loop around and have some other flats before riding back up Titans Grove KOM in the opposite direction. Then a long run into town where the loop is finished. At least that is what the route was supposed to be. 

My legs just didn't feel like it. I actually skipped the second time up the Titan KOM and headed towards town early. Ending up with 25 miles instead of the 32. Not terrible, but just not in the right head space to muster the distance. 

Sunday I finally got my hitch installed on my Equinox. It was finally a decent day to get it done. Once I wrapped that up I was driving home to grab some food and head out for a long road ride. The gravel was still destroyed from the rain all day Saturday. I had my route planned and was in the right frame of mind for it...when I started to see sprinkles on my windshield. By the time I got home is was raining....ugh.

So, I fired up Zwift again. I need some longer rides to get my endurance up, so 2 hours was the plan. I once again clicked on the Eastern Eight loop, this time with the mindset that I would finish that route. Started well enough, and I got to the top of the Titans Grove KOM with a PR. barely, but still....Zwift popped the confetti and I had a new PR, so that was good. I was off to a good start. 

The funny thing is....the summit is only about 8 miles into the route. lol. So after an achievement I still had a long ways to go! You can see the route below. 

I was rewarded with a long descent. I just kept plugging away, but a lot of this route is flat. So its just spinning the cranks for long periods of time. On the trainer that gets rough. Around 1:15 I started to crack. Being heavier, its hard to just sit and mash the pedals for long periods of time. My...taint...needs a break now and then. I just stood and stretched and moved around a bit then got back at it. This is how I would do it on the road, so I didn't ever technically stop...just got super slow a few times.

I pressed on, and then I reached that second trip up the KOM. This isn't a huge climb, so I was able to steadily reach the top. Then, it was almost downhill to the finish. My ride was planned for 2 hours. My final time was 2:00:24....right on schedule. Not fast, but not terrible either considering how I started to feel on the bike.

Another solid week back in training. Feeling pretty good overall, and I have dropped a lot of weight this year. As I said before my girlfriend and I are doing Whole30 and I am following it how I should. My body is learning how to function again without all the garbage. No, I won't eat perfect forever....but at this point I am going to keep rolling and pushing on towards my goal weight. Creating new habits along the way. Big test coming up with a trip to Myrtle Beach. But I am taking my road bike with me to get some solid miles in while there.

My season officially begins in less than 2 weeks. 

Season is here....

 Tomorrow is Melting Mann. I won't be there, as I never actually planned to be there. I am thankful, because in typical fashion....its going to rain and temps are dropping. Seems like this event is very cool, but the weather just tries to make it bad. Over the years I have seen a very mixed bag of conditions. Kinda like Iceman. lol. Never know until race day what its going to be.  At any rate, Good luck friends!

My first event is 2 weeks from tomorrow. Before I get into that I will touch on my week. Last week I didn't feel the greatest on the bike. I had that week off in Germany and caught a little bug when I got back. The fitness I had dropped back a few weeks and it was a struggle to ride for an hour. That is slowly getting better. This past week I rode 3 days in a row OUTSIDE. Yes, finally balled up and headed out.

Tuesday wasn't terrible. Close to 50 degrees with a little wind. I did a solid loop that I used to ride a lot in previous years. Tried to stay away from gravel due to the rain/snow drama we had over the weekend. 

Wednesday I geared up again with temps in the high 40's. I got all geared up and ready to roll when I noticed some sprinkles on the car. More of a mist really. ugh. Not supposed to rain for a few hours and the mist won't kill me. But the mist was a bit heavier than I thought it would be. 5 miles in I was feeling the water thru my tights. ugh. But I just pressed on. I was already out there and had at least 5 miles to get back home. I slogged along and eventually made it home. Short ride, but better than the trainer.

Thursday was a bit cooler with temps hovering in low to mid 40's. But the wind was bit stiffer. After the previous 2 days my legs were kind of not the best the first few miles. They eventually felt better and I was trying to push a bit to keep my speed up. I would go from 18 down to 13 when the wind would blow. Terrible...lol. Another solid ride.

But....my mind tanked after I was done. I know I have a 50 miler two weeks from tomorrow. While I know I can ride that distance, the duration is my bigger concern. I have only done 1 long ride this year and it was on the trainer. I will likely have a long trainer ride tomorrow and can hopefully get outside for a longer road ride on Sunday. Then a few days with a mixed bag of weather might mean back on the trainer. You might say "yeah but you have that whole next week too"....and here is another wrench. We are taking a family spring break down to Myrtle Beach. I am waffling between taking the road bike, cross bike, or the fat bike to do some beach riding. Yeah, warmer temps look great for riding....but there is a decent chance of rain almost every day that week. I understand its still a week out, but I can't go another full week without riding right before a race. Taper yes. Stop no. Decisions decisions. 

So two weeks from tomorrow is the Dirty 30. I am signed up for the Filthy 50 and I think I will be ok to finish, might just take me a minute. Like the banners might be coming down before I finish. lol. The bigger concern is the Barry Roubaix the following weekend. Not 36 miles of hills, but 62 miles of hills with 26 miles of a course I have no clue what to expect. The Dirty 30 doesn't make me nervous, but the Longer Barry definitely does. I will have to see how the Dirty 30 goes before I make a final decision on distance for Barry. Signed up for 62, but if I struggle with 50 I might have to drop down. The 62 has roughly 4500 feet of climbing too....so that is another factor. Actually has less feet of climbing per mile than the 36....but....you know. lol. 

Here is a breakdown (numbers are averages pulled from strava courses:

Dirty 30 (Filthy 50) is 50 miles. 46.1 feet of climbing per mile.

Barry Roubaix (Thriller) is 36 miles. 74.9 feet of climbing per mile. 

Barry Roubaix (Killer) is 62 miles. 72.5 feet of climbing per mile.

In the grand scheme of my racing, its about finishing. I just don't want to finish in the dark ;)

Welcome back!

 February was going strong, and then it ended poorly. Well, training ended poorly lets say. 

I was picked by my employer to head to Germany for a week to investigate a new opportunity. What that is I cannot say, but work related none the less. This meant a lot of scrambling on my end to get my passport and get everything lined up for the trip. My training took a hit.

Mid February I was ahead of schedule for the month and gaining on my daily goals. That fell off, and then I was gone for a week. Sheesh. Now I am way behind on my daily goal. This can be overcome. I did put a lot of steps in while in Germany because we had a lot of things to see and we were even able to get a few visits to castles in the area. Lots....of...steps. But, there was lots of food too. lol. Thankful for the steps and thankful for the trip. When I got back I stepped on the scale.....down 1 pound. WIN.

With the jet lag and fatigue I didn't ride Sunday or Monday. I threw my leg over the bike last night and felt really good the entire time. It was good to be back on the bike and back at. The season is here, and I have work to do....on and off the bike.

I finished February with just over 240 miles. Not terrible considering the number of days I missed. I am very far behind for March, but seeing the warmer weather I am ready to get those longer rides churning and build that strong base for my races. 

I also started Whole30 with Chris. This will be a different plan than I have ever used before and I think it will work good. It will do a few things. It will stop my sugar and it will help me develop positive habits. Also, with an accountability partner it makes it easier. When we have dinner together and we are eating the same things life is just easier. The kids will eat most of it....and then we supplement their dinners with something extra that we can't eat....like biscuits, rice, fried foods, ice cream, snack cakes, cheese, any dairy product.....I forgot where I was going. lol.

Anyway.....back at it because my first race is coming quick. Its not short and its not flat, so hauling this big body around is a lot of work. I need to make those hills just a little easier in this next month. Dirty 30 is the first race and it is exactly a month a way. Should be able to drop some mass and keep building muscle in this time. Keep moving forward.