Second guessing myself about racing Cat 1

As I sit here post Claremore race I started to second guess my choice to ask to be moved up to Cat 1 for racing MTB. 

When I got my USA Cycling licence I was automatically assigned an MTB race category of 3 (Beginner) which is standard practice for someone with no racing experience. You then have the option to request a change of category. Thanks to Arctic MTB  (Alaska doesn't use the USA Cycling licence) I was able to look back at all my MTB series results and see where I had finished each series I had done. 

Arctic MTB and Cross season results

Year	Series	Position overall	Notes
2017	CX - Open	10th
2017	MTB - Open	11th
2017	MTB Double Down	9th
2016	CX - Open	12th
2016	MTB - Trifecta	8th
2016	MTB - Open	18th
2015	CX - Open	17th
2014	CX - Open	29th	* didn't race full series
2014	MTB - SS	1st	* Fast guy didn't race until last 3 races which he won.

In Alaska I had been a steadily improving my Open season racing from back of the field to mid pack racer.
Looking at my lap times at some of the 2017 races. I was putting in lap times around the same as the top of Sport (some of the racers were definitely sandbagging) for MTB but we then raced another lap, that is the same for racing here. I was within around 17% of the winners of the Open category at the races there.

Decisions decisions...

After I raced the 419 event, I looked at my results and my results in Anchorage and I made the choice to try and race Cat 1 which is the equivalent to open/expert in Anchorage. I put my request in to get moved up to Cat 1, and it was granted. 

Roll on the first race and I got cheesed (like creamed but it lasts for longer) I finished in last place which I was a little bit disheartened about. I did't expect to win or even podium however I thought I may be a little closer to the action. Race two was at Claremore this last weekend and again I finished last, though I did have a mechanical, even without that I would have still be last albeit closer to the guys in front. 

Taking a closer look

Diving in a little deeper to my results here. At the Sooner Stampede I was around 13%  behind the winner. At Claremore it was around 23% though if you take out my stopped time for a mechanical that drops to 19% of the leaders times, so very similar to Anchorage. The big thing is that in Anchorage I was mid pack, here Cat 1 is divided into age groups so there are fewer people in my age group compared to what I have been used to. 

The bottom line

Bottom line is I need to get faster, that way I will at least feel like I am racing with the field not just riding my own individual time trial.
Strava stalking some the other racers allows me to see that they are doing double the miles/time on the bike per week compared to me.
I will add that doubling my training time is not going to happen. however I am starting to feel stronger and some of my speed appears to be coming back. I guess "training" does work, who would have thunk it!

Anyway that is all from me, watch this space all!

TDD - Shoreline shred Claremore

Sunday 24th March 2019 was the second race in the TDD (Tour De Dirt) series. The race was held at the Claremore trails in OK

The course was a 8mile loop taking in some of the older trails out there which run along the shoreline and the new trail out there called the boneyard. The trails seem to drain well which is fortunate since it rained on Saturday 23rd March. 

The course was a good mixture of flowy sections and rocky bumpy sections with a couple of steep climbs thrown in to keep us all on our toes. I didn't make the last steep climb out of the stream on any lap however, I did manage to make it up all the others. I was also foiled by one sloping rock with a parallel root on my warmup lap and all three of my race laps. 

How did my race go?

Pretty good for lap one, a soft rear tyre caused a couple of stops on lap two then I had a good lap three even though I tagged a couple of trees, one day I will learn to stop looking at them.

Lap times from Strava

Lap 1 - 48:22 - probably went out a little to hard

Lap 2 - 57:51 (moving time 52:10, due to pumping up tyre two times)

Lap 3 - 52:12

I would have definitely benefited from a pre-ride at this course. At least to learn the lines through a couple of sections. The pace was hot from the start but I think I rode better this race compared to last race. I was still dropped quickly and then passed by a quite a few in the categories who start behind me but I think I rode faster. 

I used bottles today for food/hydration though I still had a camelbak on I didn't drink from it, it just had tools in. Maybe next race I will try and race without my camelbak, that way I can use pockets for race snacks. I didn't eat anything whilst riding so lost a little performance at the end of lap 3, though no cramping. The First Endurance product I have been using is awesome!

The Strava

Photos of me taken by Julie Denton

I don't remember any of these being taken. 

At least I'm smiling. 

I have no idea where this was on the course

Dropping in probably

I'm guessing the trail went left here.

What's next

Well I intend to carry on with the training and keep enjoying the races. TDD has 3 more races before I head to Texas for the Mountain Marathon National Champs. I also need to make sure I check over my bike as the soft rear tyre was frustrating, the new gold chain looked and worked great though. 

And finally

A huge thanks to my family for supporting me through all these races and training. I'm already looking forward to the next race in a couple of weeks. 

Land Run 100 - 2019 Dry and Dusty edition

The Land Run 100 has a reputation for being a tough race. This is mainly due to the mud that forms on certain sections of the course with even a hint of rain. 

LR 100 Finisher Stats
Red - Registered
Yellow - Started
Blue - Finished

2017 LR100 course 

In 2017 there was a lot of attrition due to a wet course and cold temperatures. Last year the course was mostly dry and the finishing numbers reflect this.

In my previous blog post I mentioned how I changed tyres in case the course was going to be muddy. In the end, instead of the predicted 2" of rain we only received around 1", this was followed by some strong drying winds, think 30mph or above all day. All this meant that the course was about as good as it was ever going to be.

My good friend Oscar flew down from Anchorage, AK to race/ride this event so I was super stoked that he ended up riding in such great conditions.

Pre race day

Oscar arrived on Friday afternoon and after collecting him from the airport we built his bike and headed up to Stillwater OK for packet pickup and the riders meeting. Then we drove back home so that we could finish preparing for the race and have dinner.
Oscar and I managed to get out for a short shakedown ride, there was even a little gravel.

Shorts in March = awesome!

Race Day

Saturday morning seemed to come far to quickly but a little after 06:00 we were loaded up and rolling towards Stillwater, OK.

Loaded up and ready to roll

We dropped off our drop bags, finished getting ready and headed up to the start line. 

30F is pretty chilly

All lined up and ready to go

At 08:00 the cannon was fired and we were off, well kind up due to being 10+ rows back the start was a little slow, but soon we were heading out for some Oklahoma gravel. First was a little road out of town and around 2miles in we hit the first gravel. At this point we played dodge the waterbottle, there must have been 20 bottles lying on the ground, it was crazy and we were close to the front of the field, if I had to guess I would say I was in the top 200 at this point. 

For the first hour the temperatures were definitely chilly at around 33F. It was also pretty dusty with such a big group riding together on dry gravel. 

After around 1 hour I was warm enough to swap out from the thicker gloves and put on some regular full finger gloves. 

Gravel road not dirt

Say cheese :)

The next couple of hours passed for me riding in groups and steadily trying to catch the wheels of the people who were riding faster than me. At around mile 42 I had to stop for a call of nature (longest pee stop ever at around 2 min) and lost contact with the group I was riding with. I was feeling good though and didn't stress about it. I got riding again and caught onto a group of three people, we worked together, picking up others on the way including Oscar who I hadn't seen since the start of the race. We were flying into the 1/2 way point (post race analysis - chip time of 3:02:26 and in 170th place overall out of 1078)

I refilled my bottles at the Skratch lab aid station and then found my drop bag, changed a few things around took off base layer, dropped thick gloves, buff etc and was back on the road in around 5 min.

About to get my drop bag, my bottles are already full at this point.
Photo Credit - 241 photography

Oscar and I at the 1/2 way point
Photo credit 241 photography

Rolling out of Perkins I was feeling strong, Oscar was not feeling as strong, I decided I would crack on as I was feeling good, rather than riding with him. 

Rolling out of Perkins

The second half of the course seemed to have a lot more rollers on the road and definitely more red dirt rather than gravel. There was even a section of road that had no bridge so forced us to get off our bikes to cross a stream. 

There was a second stream crossing and a few sketchy descents thrown into the mix further along the course. All in all the back half of the course had a lot of interesting features, especially with tired legs.

Red dirt and rollers up and down all the time.

After the Vittoria Oasis (unofficial aid station, which I didn't stop at) I was happily riding along in my own little world after the people I had been riding with stopped. I was trying to catch up to the people in front of me when a couple of people caught up to me and one of them passed me pretty easily. The rider who didn't pass me I had been riding with earlier was called AJ from Colorado the other rider was the man, the myth the legend, Jay Petervery! 

AJ chasing after JP

JP, dropped AJ and I pretty quickly but we managed to reel him back in slowly and have a chat with him, we even rolled into the Salsa Chaise Lounge together.

Me on the Chaise

A quick photo stop then it was back to chasing JP. I did manage to catch up with him and for a while I was able to maintain riding with him but soon afterwards he dropped me. Clint, I now know how you feel to be dropped by JP, although my feet were warm :-P 

Dropped by JP

I'm all alone :) 

I eventually caught up to another rider Michelle, she was a strong rider now residing in Portland, OR who has ridden the DK200 last year and is riding it again this year. We powered through the remaining 15miles of seemingly endless rollers and straight roads trying to catch back up to JP. And before we knew it we were back on pavement and hoping the traffic lights would turn green as we rolled through each intersection to the finish. JP finished a little over 37 seconds ahead of us.

Crossing the finish line
- Photo Credit 241 Photography

I stopped the clock at 6:15:05 taking 126th place overall and 39th/259 in my age group, that was way above where I was expecting to finish. Maybe top 100 next time?????

Post race results

My back half of the course was strong.

Post Race

I had an absolute blast riding this race and finished stronger than I have ever finished in a race. I was tired but didn't cramp at all. I think part of this may be down to the new drink mix I am using from First Endurance, It could also be all the training I have been doing too I guess. 

Once again a huge thanks must go out to my family for putting up with me whilst I train for all these long events. 

I'm also thankful that Oscar took the time to fly down from Anchorage, AK to join me on this adventure. Even though we didn't actually ride so much of the LR100 together, we at least experienced the same conditions. He rolled in at 6:44:09 and also had a blast, or so he tells me :)

Full results

All smiles at the finish

 The Strava

Landrun 100 race preparation

On the 3rd November 2018 at 08:02am Amanda logged in and scored me a Landrun 100 entry. The race sold out in about 7 min I believe. Since then I have focused my training towards this event. 

Not that I believe I can podium but more to make my ride as enjoyable as possible and so I suffer for as little time as possible on the bike whilst riding it. I have been riding lots of gravel and getting back into regularly doing the P90X yoga routine and adjusting my nutrition. All of which I hope has helped with my endurance. 

Over the last few days the weather guesses have been warning everyone that we are going to get a lot of rain. 

Damon telling us the rain totals by Thursday
- Guess Monday Eve at 21:40

Why is rain such an issue?

Its all to do with the wonderful red dirt which looks great for photographs especially in the golden hour but can make riding a bike impossible. 

oh that pretty red dirt

smooth sailing until it isn't

And then you can't ride anymore

red dirt sticks really well to tyres

Yey hike your bike

To be perfectly honest I don't think we will get that much rain, especially since I have just gone ahead and swapped my tyres over to narrower ones which give more mud clearance. 

What tyres and why swap?

I have swapped over from my 40C Maxxis Ramblers to my 33C Clement PDX's 

Old Orange Sealant from the PDX tyres

Lots more mud clearance

from a 40C to 33C = lots more room

The trusty PDX's

I switched tyres since a couple of team mates have put up some advice that said switch your tyres, you won't regret it! 

And yes I know I swapped before the rain hit, but that is so if I encounter any problems with the set up, I have time to do something about it. 

The PDX's roll pretty well so even if it's not muddy I will not be at a huge disadvantage. Also if there are any grassy sections these tyres are the best, they have so much traction whilst maintaining minimum drag.  

Thinking back to my training, perhaps I should have been doing running training.

So that is me, I have done all I wanted to do before this race. All that is left for me to do is pick up my buddy Oscar who is flying down from Alaska to do this race, from the airport on Friday and enjoy the ride. 

Take care everyone. 

TDD - Sooner Stampede - 10th March 2018

Hello race fans, I will do my race first then I will move onto the important one.

Nick's race

I got to race my first Cat 1 race.... holy crap those guys are fast!!!!

The race was held at Lake Thunderbird state park on the Clearbay trails. This was the first race of the season for the Tour De Dirt race series due to one race being postponed. The course was a fun one with dry with super grippy dirt.

Unlike in Alaska where I would be racing with the whole expert category, here we are split into age groups. For me that means Cat 1 - 17-39, AKA the really fast guys.

All lined up ready to go, I'm at the far end of the photo
- PC - Gregg Grosshans

We set off at the whistle and immediately I was at the back of the group of 9 riders.

Not getting the holeshot, I'm at the back :)
- PC - Gregg Grosshans

I did manage to pass one guy on the first section of single track but I pretty much rode the whole race solo aside from being passed by some (actually all) of the racers in the Cat 1 - 40-49 category, I will add they all passed me like I was going backwards :-/

On course, PC - Jennifer Black

After crossing the line - PC Amanda

Am I disappointed, heck no! I had a great race. I raced hard and didn't blow up which is super unusual for me. My rear hub was making some strange noises so it is off the Bike Lab OKC today for a little TLC. 

Race results

There I am in 7th Place 

Link to full results

The Strava 

Fiona's 1st MTB race!!!

Fiona took part in her first MTB race. She raced in the TDD Kids Kup 8-9 age group and finished in 2nd place. She had a blast riding and was all smiles for the whole event. 

Warming up - note they then waited 20min on the start line

Finally off

ripping the singletrack

She was pretty stoked about this!

To top it all off she also achieved an MVP award for the kids cup. To say she is stoked was an understatement!

MVP Award :)

I am super happy that she now seems to have the MTB bug, looking forward to lots more riding with her now! 

And finally

I couldn't do all of this without the incredible support of my amazing wife. She does so much for me it really would be impossible to list everything. I truly couldn't do this without her.