The Mid South Double 2020 - Mileage tracking

A quick update at the end of the year

Wow 2019 is almost over already!

We have had a busy year with many highlights topped off by becoming a USA citizen just before christmas.

I am now a USA citizen!

I hope all my friends have had a great year and festive season.

My training for the Landrun double has been progressing nicely.  The running is going better now I am a few weeks in, it's actually fun to run again. The cycling is, well it is just always fun once I get out on gravel. 

Obviously with an event that can have such varied conditions as Landrun setting time goals is mostly out of my hands, If I get good conditions I would be over the moon with a 12.5hour combined finishing time however that is with near perfect conditions which can't be guaranteed. Therefore I am looking to just finish both events with no major body problems or mechanicals, and my training is geared towards that. 

As I get closer to the events I will dial in my kit a little better but right now it is looking like I will be using a camelbak chase for the running event and going probably with just two waterbottles on the bike and not using a camelbak.

New tyres for christmas 38C
but more like a 35C, seem to roll pretty well too

Sunrise rides never get old :)

Always nice out here, even
better when there is almost no wind.

I had been running in some hoka shoes but I am not sure about them so I switched out to some Saucony shoes. It is still early miles in them but they feel lots better. I want to get a few longer runs in before committing to that.

New shoes :)

Dirt running

I am also sending in my biking shoes for repair as one of the boa lace eyelets failed on them, hopefully I will have an update soon as to if they can be repaired.

Ooophs :-/

With just over 10 weeks to go before the Landrun double it's all go go go here. Until next time, have fun everyone.

G3 Race 3 - Guthrie to "Luther" and back

It's G3R3 report time, catch up on race two here and race one here

This weeks race seemed to come around really quickly, I have been slowly ramping up my training for Landrun double, mileage tracking can be found here. This means I have had a pretty heavy tail end of the week for me.

Thursday was running intervals followed by two hours of zone 2 on the bike. Friday was an "Easy" long run though it didn't feel that way.

As we lined up at the start of the race I wasn't sure how my legs were going to respond. I was excited to try and ride with John Lynn who was down from Colorado to see his son. We rolled together through the neutral roll out then the pace increased and that was the last I saw of John :)

John is in that front group... Bye John :) 

My legs were feeling pretty good though and I settled into a tempo ride. Fortunately for me Jeremy Black was there with me and we rolled out a good pace. With a couple of ladies (Heather and Rhonda) and one other guy.

Love riding with Jeremy :)

Allowing others to lead :)

After a few miles in we caught up with a group whom had turned the wrong way? I have no idea to be honest but there were four guys and they pulled away from Jeremy and I along with the other three riders. I chose to maintain my pace rather than go into the red so early in the race. Then I had to stop to pee, Jeremy choose to stop and adjust layers and we rolled on together after being passed by multiple people.

The roads were great though, as we were flying down one of the many inclines we came to a corner, as we rounded the corner the road became really soft. There were a group of riders stopped aiding another rider. I later found out that it was a teammate Aaron who had gone down in the sand and unfortunately broken (smashed) his collar bone. I hope you recover quickly Aaron.

We continued cruising around and before we knew it we were at the aid station at the vineyard. We stopped to get some water, not that I really needed it. Then we were off riding through a loop of the vineyard before hitting the roads again.

Well I have never done this

Fun with friends

As we headed north there was very little wind and we were once again riding great. The roads were pretty and the company fun. Before to long we were crossing a walk section on the a bridge. I once again needed to pee, WTF body? I had hardly drunk anythink. Oh well Jeremy, soft pedalled and I caught up with him removing vegetation from his derailleur.  We continued on and then on one of the hills we caught up with Jackie Chastine. She had had an off earlier in the course and seemed frustrated and a little dazed. We rode with her for a few miles before she told us to go on.

A few more hills and a long headwind section and we turned back west.

I was having a blast! 

That lovely red dirt

More straight roads for a change

Cool b road

Always having fun

We were flying and catching and passing people. It was a lot of fun. Then on one of the descents which was particularly rough I heard a rim strike. I thought I had gotten away with it but a few miles on the front tyre was very soft. I waved Jeremy on and added some air. Around 1/2  a mile later is was soft again. I threw a lot more air in and continued on my way. Then I came across Jeremy and Corey who were fixing Corey's tyre. At this point I decided to put a tube in my tyre as it was soft again. I couldn't see any leaks and still had sealant in the tyre so am at a loss as to what is going on with it. Oh well that is to work out for another time. A huge thanks to Jeremy who loaned me a CO2 and inflater as I had failed to pack my CO2 inflator.

Flat fixing club

By now I had a tail wind and was enjoying the last few miles back to the finish, my legs felt fantastic and I'm sure without the flat I could have caught a few more people.

I passed Corey who had gone flat again, he had already called in a ride so refused to take my offer of another inner tube. 

I crossed the finish line and got to have a chat with teammates and friends who had also completed the race. Then I was off home to check on the beautiful Amanda who has unfortunately got Shingles. TLC is the order of the afternoon. 

Tomorrow I get to race CX again!

Results 

I will add later.

The Strava

G3 Race 2 - Guthrie to Crescent and back

If you haven't had time to check out my blog on G3R1 then head over here

G3 race two took us a little north from Guthrie to Crescent and back to Guthrie. The course contained a few more hills and was around 65miles in length.

My Race 

We started at 8am and rolled as a group for the first 4.5ish miles. This was because there was a one lane section of highway over the Cimarron river which was traffic light controlled. 

Waiting to go

It was a long wait

After we eventually got a green light we cruised a little more pavement then turned into a headwind section on more pavement before we hit the gravel. Not long after hitting the gravel I was dropped.... :) 

Bye bye

Yep not fast enough

So long lead riders

I probably could have worked a little harder to try and keep up with the front group but for once I did the smart thing and let them go. This was a really good decision on my part as it meant I didn't cramp up for the race and had power through the whole race. 

After the front group had gone we formed a nice group on the road and the miles were flying by...

Enjoying the smooth dirt

Sun finally came out

Oh no back to showers

The pace was good probably due to the tail wind really :) and we were working well together. a couple of faster riders passed us not long after this and a couple of the group jumped on their wheels and left our group. Oh well we were still doing great. We were now at the far north of the course where there was a little mud followed by a long section into a headwind on a soft road. 

No walking but it could have been much worse

Woo hoo headwinds

Jeremy and I split the work on this section, I was very thankful to have a teammate and strong rider with me it made a huge difference to my workload. 

Drafting Jeremy

After we turned off this road we were into Crescent and our aid station. We stopped and filled up bottles then headed out of town. There were four of us together at this point. Jeremy and I were doing most of the work into the wind but its all good training right? 

Next up was the hilly section of the course. I actually got to see what climbpro on my Garmin Edge 530 looks like. It is a great tool . 

Climbpro

Real life view when not staring at the screen. :)

We conquered two of the three climbs before hitting the pavement section again, we had caught up with a couple of riders on this part so four became 6 as we rode the headwind paved hill. Jeremy and I once again took turns to pull the group along. 

Oh highway miles :(

Getting a tow from Jeremy. 

After this long section (or so it felt) of highway we hit the dirt again. 

Smiles again on the dirt. 

We then dropped down a closed to vehicles road and crossed a bridge before climbing up on the final climbpro climb of the day. The course was definitely more technical for around a mile. I tried to video it but alas my phone wouldn't start recording. We went in as 6 people and came out as Jeremy and I, mountain bike skills pay off I guess. :) 

Here we go

It got way more fun further on the trail. 

We were now 53miles in and I was loving it. We repeated a little bit of the previous course, stopped at the aid station after the field section and were informed that we were probably top 20. At this news Jeremy and I decided to get going before the people following us caught up. We headed out down the farm track and onto the pavement for a mile before getting back on dirt. At this point, Jackie and Gabriel caught back up to us. We cruised the dirt, crushed the pavement section then enjoyed the last dirt into town. Back to civilisation and obviously we got stopped at the traffic light after the hill. We waited and waited then Jeremy jumped the red whilst the rest of us waited. We finally got a green and finished off the ride. 4hrs 18min and an average speed of 15.1MPH. I'm super happy with that as I felt way better at the end of the ride than I did a the end of  race 1.  

The Strava 

G3 Race 1 - Guthrie to Cashion and back

What a race!

A little background

The G3 race series (3 races) was set up to allow people to train in preparation for entering the Landrun 100. The initial thought was that you would do the races which get progressively harder course wise than decide if you feel you are up to the Landrun 100 in March. 

Landrun 100 then moved their signup date to coincide with the first G3 race. Oh well, the start was pushed 15min so that we would have time to register. I am not sure how quickly LR100 filled up but I am guessing it was within minutes again.

So about that Landrun 100

I was fortunate that I had Amanda signing me up again for LR100. This year I was on the start line, (last year I was out riding) and it took the pressure off me knowing that she was doing it.

On LR100 this year I have decided to do the double.

What is the double I hear you ask?

It's a 50km run on Friday followed by the 100mile ride on the Saturday with the masses. It is I am sure going to be brutal but, on the plus side I will have some friends joining me to do it. Amy Sebby who suggested I should do it and Oscar Lage who joined me for LR100 last year. We have lots of time to train so if any of my friends would like to join the three of us, sign up and start training now, Brant I'm talking to you.

Back to the G3

After the delayed start so we could attempt to register, at 08:15 we set off and the pace was hot!

Ray I think giving the announcements 

Front row looking back

My legs felt good though, so I pushed the pace and soon I  was in a pretty solid group and absolutely flying! We were working well together through the field section and for the next 15 or so miles. 

pace was quick

One of the few cars we saw

At around mile 25 I was dropped out of that group which was unfortunate as the next two miles were into a headwind.... 

Spot the group they are way way up there

Sad face 

Next thing I know I am being passed.

Oh shit I need to get that wheel!

I stashed my phone and jumped onto a wheel. We worked well and rode significantly faster than I would have gotten into the aid station at mile 32. As we arrived at the aid station we had caught the group I had been with who were just leaving the aid station. Unfortunately I needed to fill my bottles and they didn't so lost that group. Oh well I waited for the next group to share some of the load into the wind. The husband of the couple (John I think) had aero bars and was a great draft, the wife (Rhonda I think) was a strong rider too. So strong that they both dropped me after the beer station. 

Husband and wife couple

We now had around 18 miles to go but I was feeling the onset of crampy legs, I ate some more food and drank some more fluids but knew they would get me eventually. 

As I started riding down to Liberty lake, I hear my name being called. It was my friend Simon Lynn.  He and his friend were riding well and promptly dropped me on the hill before we turned into the singletrack. 

By Simon and group

Fortunately for me, they missed a turn and I ended up leading through the singletrack section. That was the best bit of the whole course! It felt just like a cross course back in Alaska with Simon chasing me down :) We rejoined the road and I got dropped again by this group. 

Getting dropped by Simon... again :) 

Then I had my left leg cramp up.  So much so, I had to get off the bike and stretch it out. I drank my pickle juice and managed to get going again. I got a little more relief as we did the pirate section of the course and walked the plank. 

Plank walked

Then I hear a train, I checked my map, I need not have bothered, I knew I had to cross the tracks. Oh well a little break won't hurt me. 

Yup that is a train 

I set off again soft pedalling so as not to cramp up, this is especially hard when you are trying to balance through sand pits along the road. Then I hear a voice, it was Kris my teammate who has caught back up to me. 

He very kindly soft pedalled with me all the way to the finish. 

Riding with teammates is awesome!

I finished in around 3hrs 56min. Aside from the cramps this race was a total blast. Great course, terrible headwind, great tailwind, smiles all around. 

I am also happy that my friend Phillip Banta rode the race and had a blast too. Hopefully I can get my self organised and get out on some training rides with him. 

The Strava else it didn't happen. 

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