Green Lake Grinder 2017 edition

The snow has all gone, well from around town at least. It's now light until way after 10pm and the mountain bike trails are deemed to be dry enough and have opened up. Before the mountain bike season kicks off into full swing, there are a number of other races that I have the option to attend. Once the dirt riding takes off though, I find myself less inclined to want to race on anything other than dirt.

One race that is quickly becoming a must do, is put on by one of the sponsors for the team I ride on.
Speedway Cycles is the primary sponsor for the only gravel race in town. The race takes place on base (JBER) which means it's in an area that I can't normally ride without a lot of preparation aka hassle.

This year the weather was definitely not as nice as for last years race. The forecast called for rain, and sure enough as we started the neutral roll out, there was a light precipitation in the air. By the time we were four miles in and the race started, the rain had ceased and the gravel was dry and dusty.

Neutral Roll out

Neutral Roll out

How did my race go... 

Very well actually, much better than last year where I bonked pretty badly around 30miles. This year I was a little better positioned once we got going after the neutral roll out which definitely helped. I was still dropped on the first climb but tried to ride smart and ending up working with a friend (Rob) from mile 9 to mile 11 to catch back onto the lead group. I was promptly dropped from this group at well before mile 14 and proceeded to ride solo until around mile 27.

Around mile 15.5 chasing the specks in the distance. 

The specks in the distance (Greg, David, Jason, Jack, Paul)

I'm all alone aside from the bears and moose.... 

This is where I did something smart for a change. I slowed down so that I could work together with a group who were following me. The group contained a few teammates (Oscar, Ryan and Brad), Rob was also in the group and a speedway rider.

Riding in a paceline again. 

Brad was pretty tired and unfortunately was dropped off the back of the paceline I think during one of my pulls on the front, sorry Brad. The remainder of the group worked well together and slowly started reeling in the group in front of us.

At around mile 34.5 Oscar took a big pull to try and get me up to the group in front who were tantalisingly close. I took my turn then Ryan took over, we were now on one of the final steep climbs and the group ahead had slowed. With the assistance from my team mates I managed to bridge the gap and actually get into the group. As we descended and made a right turn I pushed my way forward and as we started the next climb I was at the front. I pedalled steadily with Greg, Jack and Paul. Greg mentioned he didn't want the group to catch back up so we set a steady pace up the final climbs towards the finish.

Around 2/3's of the way up the bigger climb a guy in a vehicle coming the other way mentioned that there were three bears in the road up ahead. I'm sure they will be gone by the time we get there I was thinking. We rounded a couple of corners and there in the road were a mother and two baby bears. I quickly turned to Greg and questioned what we should do. "Shout and make noise lets see if we can get them off the roadway" he responded. It worked, that was a good call by Greg. We continued along the road, rounded a couple more corners and came face to face with another bear. We all started shouting at this bear and he too ran off the road, though no where near as far.

We pushed the pace up the remaining climb, descended down through the ski area and rejoined paved road. Greg was a little ahead of me by this point and I definitely didn't have the legs to catch him. Another rider in the group Jack who had silently caught onto my wheel proceeded to zip past me before the finish. All in all a great day on the bike.

I finished in 9th place which is an improvement on last years race where I finished 14th. More significantly for me I didn't have any huge debilitating cramps which I have been suffering from on many of these races. I also felt relatively fresh at the end which is a nice feeling.

Congratulations to the usual suspects for showing us what really fast people are like. Nice racing Will and Laura to take the wins.

Thanks to Greg, Tim and all who put this race on, I know it can't be easy but we all really appreciate it.

And last but not least a huge thanks to Amanda for taking care of the munchkin whilst I raced, I couldn't do it without you!

Full results

Strava file in case you were wondering.

Frigid Bits - 6hr Boner 2017 edition

The Alaska Endurance Association doesn't just put on epic rides in the summer months. They also have a winter division. I am not sure how long these events have been going on but 10+ years is a number I see batted around on facebook.

"Frigid Bits. Well, some of the folks around the Anchorage bowl know about these shenanigans on snow and some folks don't . The Frigid Bit gathering is about trying your best to have fun period. Then do this with friends or with friends you have not met.

Then there are the routes we ride, the ride distances are for the advance rider and for the new rider. The advanced riders will usually have the fitness and skills to shred the course and have fun trying to wring the heck out of his buddies and perhaps stopping and chatting to friends and sharing the contents of a flask. These riders will set there own pace and protocol for that particular point in time.

Recreational ride option is a laid back option are for those who prefer to ride with some brews to share at frequent impromptu stops! There usually may be a rider who will volunteer to assist those who have no idea where they are." 

The 6 hour boner started life off as a training event in town for people who are looking to get out and ride for 6 hours.  I believe initially they used to run from midnight to 6am which i guess is good preparation for long distance racing when conditions are soft and you are out in the middle of nowhere for hours at a time. The two versions of this event that I have partaken in both started way before midnight. In 2015 I used the event as a training ride for the Susitna 100, I rode semi loaded up left my house and made the start for around 6pm we finished riding around 01:40 in the morning I was on the bike/outside for around 8hrs 50min it was character building and also great training for the Su100. 

Link to 2015 edition

The Route

This year I was asked if I could help with the route planning again which was an honour to do. We initially planned to head out west from west chester lagoon and ride out to Kincaid ride a loop of Kincaid singletrack then ride back to the lagoon to complete a lap. The idea is to complete as many laps as possible in 6 hours. The problem with Kincaid is that in the winter it doesn't get as much traffic on the singletrack as Bicentennial park. Although fat bikes can ride through snow they really do need it to be packed in to make riding enjoyable. A midweek change of the course was in order after reports of poor trails at Kincaid.  Instead of west we would head east, pick up a couple of singletrack trails and use mulituse trails to head up to hilltop ski area before hitting some singletrack and mulituse back to the start at westchester lagoon. 

The Ride

I was driving this year to the event. Not training to for any endurance events has meant I can pick and choose when and for how long I want to suffer for, no riding to the event this time and also no carrying gear :-) 

The event started at 17:00, Andrew and I were late sorry Andrew. Fortunately due to the weather so were some other riders. During the previous 24 hours the weather guesses had completely missed a snow storm that blew in, as per usual "predicting" on the fly. This time the Anchorage got anywhere between 2" and 6" of snow. Fortunately the trails have a really solid base and unlike the Frosty which started in the morning the boner started in the evening and the trails had been packed in by users by the time we hit them. 

The trails were about as good as I have ridden all year. Yes they have been faster but they were smoother and overall I would rate them 10/10.

We started the event at around 17:10 and rolled out eastbound along chester creek. I was leading and the trail was good. We picked up another rider around 2 miles into the course and he pushed my pace all the way until he left us to head home, thanks Nico. 

We had only a couple of short stops on the way out to the turn around at hilltop ski area, this is a photo of the lead pack before the drop down to Rovers run and the return leg. 

lead group 2017 Boner - Gas line trail

We cruised back to West chester stopping only to chat with the recreational rider group who we saw in the university area on Chester Creek trail. 

Lap one was completed in 2hrs 27min with a riding time of 2hrs 17min. 

What did I do wrong on this lap? 

• I went a little to hard trying to pace with Nico
• I also didn't eat enough, basically my usual riding problems, one day I will learn and get it right. 

Once back at the lagoon our party of four split and two (Kelly and James) stayed to party at the burn barrel whilst Andrew and I headed back out to complete a second lap. Both Andrew and I were feeling a little tired on lap two. Andrew's knee was giving him some issues and my legs were feeling the effect of the skiing which I had completed in the morning. As mentioned above I had also been lacking in the nutrition department. We trudged back along the trail and had a little break before Blue booty where Andrew got this great photo. 

Getting ready to hit up Blue Booty - Photo Credit Andrew

We cruised blue booty with Andrew in the lead and me trying to catch him, I actually set a 3rd fastest time which is an indication of how fast Andrew is on this trail and also perhaps how little I ride it. 

We had a refuel before blue dot and bumped into Jesse who was on his return leg for the 2017 Boner riding fully loaded, I hadn't seen him at the start of the event, Strava stalking shows he started the event later and rode solo, nice job Jesse.

Then it was mostly plain sailing up the hill to hilltop albeit a little slower on lap two then another refuel before heading back to Westchester with a couple of stops so Andrew could stretch out his knee. 

If you are going to stretch, you may as well
 stop at a photo opportunity location. Chester Creek Trail

Lap two was completed in 3hrs 16min with a riding time of 2hrs 39min.

All in all I had a blast completing the event with a total time of 5hrs 50min and a moving time of 4hrs 58min. 

As far as I can work out there were three riders who completed 2 laps, Andrew, Fred and myself. 

Fred completed the event in 6hrs with a moving time of 5hrs 40min, nice job Fred! 

Andrew and I finished with the same time. 

There were Four other riders who completed one lap I think and a party ride of 7 people I believe who finished riding a fun lap full of chatting and sharing a tipple or two along the way. 

I have heard there was a great party at the burn barrel whilst we were gone on our second lap which I am sorry I missed but the riding was so so so good, and when the riding is good its hard not to keep going. 

Final thoughts 

Once again Frigid Bits didn't disappoint. With these events there are options for all types of rider, be that the racers, the not so racers, the party riders or the people who just want to hang out and socialise. 

A huge thanks Carlos for all you do to encourage people to get out and winter ride. Without your (and others I am sure) years of dedication I am sure the winter riding scene would not be what it is today here in Anchorage.
See you all next time 
Nick