August 13, 2013

  • Laramie Enduro 2013

    Another Laramie Enduro and  I can’t believe I signed up to do this one again.  I guess I need a goal each year to keep me motivated to stay fit, so I keep on doing it.  Not that I don’t enjoy it, cause I do enjoy the camaraderie and all but any way you look at it, it’s a long day in the saddle. silly

    This years training had to be different than the previous years cause the wife divorced me and I have the kids 50% of the time.  This means that I only get to ride long on every other weekend.  Not exactly the ideal plan, but it’s what I’ve got for now. Yeah, I suppose I could find a sitter and all that , but the $$ that it would take isn’t really worth it for me.  Now, if I were potentially going to be on the podium that would be a different story.

    So I decided to car camp again.  I really don’t like camping all that much for races, cause I never seem to get a good night sleep, but I don’t feel like paying for lodging or driving up from Fort  Collins early enough to make the 7:00 start.    The night was pretty much uneventful except I woke up at 2:30 for some reason and I don’t think a got back to sleep as quickly as I would have liked, if at all.  Something about being on ground that isn't 

    perfectly level seems to not let me relax….

    The morning finally arrives and I get up and it  looks like it’s going to be a good day.   Seems warm enough that I won’t need leg warmers or anything and I hope that the temps won’t get too high.   I need to get some food, and I would like to eat a ton, but for some reason I can’t seem to eat more than a veggie hot dog, some chips and a few crackers.  Well I guess I will just have to be mindful of eating early and often and then I should be OK.

    I finally make it too registrat

    While standing around I see a few folks that I know,  Dave, Mark, Tom, Ian, Mike etc and all are in good spirits.   There are a ton of old guys here, which is a good thing, and reassures me that I am not too crazy for doing this event.ion sign-in and the line is super long.  Guess it’s a good thing that I am in the 50+ group that is going off last.   Also a good thing, as I get to make one final stop at the porta-potty. 

    Finally we are called to the line and it’s go time.  This year I have the Garmin GPS and a speedo, so I am assured that I can gauge my effort and have some data to look at afterward.   I check my starting HR and it’s a bit high, but since I am not as excited as I was in the old days it’s a lot lower than it could have been.

    Bang the gun goes off and we are off and running.  I am mindful not to get caught up in the Melee to get to the gate first as this is going to be a long day and why waste the energy.   I find myself right behind Dave who appears to be working pretty hard, due to a lot of upper body movement.   I just sit behind him on the climb cause I know he is pretty fast and what’s the point of passing just to get passed again.   It’s also a good chance to guage how the other old guys look at this point. 

    I make it to the single trak and there aren't any bottle necks like I remember in the previous years.  Hmm,  I guess they did a really good job of staggering the start with enough categories such that this isn't an issue this year!   This is a good thing and I try to settle in behind Dave and keep things tight.   At this point I am doing pretty much the same tempo as everyone else.   There is some pressure not to gap any one so I may have been working harder than I should have but it’s early and this won’t last too long.

    We are into the twisties in the woods and this is good east coast riding.   At Dave’s earliest opportunity he goes around a laggard whose skillset wasn’t that good in the woods.  I find myself behind this guy and I am watching the guys in front of me walk away while I am applying the brakes in places where there is no need.   I am patient until we make it to the long open double trak at which time this guy picks up his pace and I have no desire to go with him.   He was probably some roadie, coming here to ride the dirt cause his single trak skills were wanting.On the double trak, it seem like a bunch of the guys that were behind me were catching and passing me.  I guess they were taking their time warming up, but I was very surprised at how fast they passed me.  Yes I could have matched their effort, but not for any distance.     For me  it’s all about managing my effort, such that I don’t cramp.  I am not an endurance rider since I have more fast twitch, so I must be careful not to dip into the glycogen reserves to early or it’s “game-over”. 

    So  I am keeping a good tempo on the flats and pretty much soft pedaling on the descents so as to take some advantage of the grades, but not waste any energy here.  This seemed not to be the strategy of many of the riders around me as I could see they were pushing pretty hard everywhere.   I wonder how well I would do against these guys on a 25 mile course where managing my efforts would not be an issue.   Hmm,  maybe I will have to do a “Short Trak” race one of these days just to test out the racing legs…  but I digress…

    I come to that really sketchy section and I slow way down and get back over the rear tire with my weight.   A couple of guys come past me with abandon, just a sliding and a skidding but they pass me without incident.   Guess they were comfortable riding like that but I sure wasn’t going to risk it that early.   In any case within the next mile or so I catch and pass these guys. 

    Shortly I see my co-worker Mark and I pass him before we get to the single trak at that little hairpin corner that points us to the woods and more single trak.  I am checking my HR and it’s  a bit higher than I would like, but some of that could be  due to the altitude so I press on.    I think  Mark tried to say with me for a bit, which I was thinking that although my perceived pace was comfy, that it probably as such for him.  In any case after a few miles I no longer hear his breathing and I can assume he settled into a more reasonable rhythm.

    The whole time I am in the twisties, I am thinking how nice this is.   I am just kinda riding with relative calmness,  not really feeling like I am racing, but merely managing so as not to cramp.

    Before long I make it too the 1st aid station, and unlike last year, I stop to get some food.  I have a tendency to run out of fuel on long rides, where I perceive that I am tired, but I am really just hungry, so I want to keep the calories in.    I don’t stop too long and on the way out I see a “brother” who I acknowledge and apparently he is from Nearby Fort Collins as he and his friend ask me if that’s where I am from, cause they see me riding there a lot.   Cool! cool

    Off and running again, and I can tell that I am not as fit as previous years, but the course seems to be flying by faster.   I can’t tell how long or far I have gone cause my computer, although it’s giving me speed is not registering distance!  Wtf.  I don’t like not really knowing how far I have gone, which makes it hard to gauge what effort I think I should be exerting.

    Ok,  Out to some more fire road which seems to last forever.  This is where I wish I had a niner or something that rolled better.    Seems like I keep getting passed by a lot of riders and I am not passing very many. Oh well.  Finally out to the road and back into the single trak again.   This is one if my favorite sections, but I am not able to push as much as I would like and I think I am

    going pretty slowly despite the fact that I actually caught and passed a few riders.

    It’s on one of the technical climbs that I catch Ignacio, who is the 17 year old son of one of my co-workers.   He is riding some 30+ lb bike and I am amazed at how well he does with that .    I follow him for a bit until he stumbles on the climb and I bid him adieu.  This for me is really a fun section and it does take a few matches to clean it all, but it’s fun.    I am really enjoying the  pushed 130mm fork that my Trek YSL now sports.  I used to get so beat up on the old-school 80mm ones that I used to run, and although there is a weight penalty with the new fork, it’s worth it!

    Out of the single trak and it seems like I am spending so much time on fire roads!   I can see why this is a favorite with some roadie type since there is plenty of opportunity to just hammer.  I find my self trying to draft as much as possible, but I am also doing my share when the time comes.  I am pretty pleased that I am riding every thing so far, even the steep 20% grades tha

    t it might be better to walk, which I had done in some previous years.

    Before long my right leg is beginning to cramp, and we are not even ½ way through yet!  surprised Time to do some power gels and I am good to go for a while.  I need some enduralytes and I take about 6 at the next aid station.

    I am trying not to spend all day at the aid stations and this is probably where I passed a bunch of folks as they were recovering and eating more than I am.  I am sure the real racers are barely spending more than a few seconds there, maybe just enough to fill their water bottles.   I am finding that I only need to fill my camelbak every other aid station.  I am trying to drink as much as p

    I am not really focused on not going to hard so as not to cramp, but to no avail my right leg is cramping ever so often.   My left leg never cramped the entire way, so maybe I am not using them evenly, or it could be my left leg is just stronger …ossible, but for some reason, I have never been able to keep well hydrated, even though I think I am drinking like a fish. 

    I push on from aid stations 3 where the single sage bush stuff is a blast.   I am totally loving how the fork just makes the bike so comfy compared to the years without!  I am seeing lots of the same riders as we leap frog each other.   For some reason many of the climbs didn't seem as bad as I had remember,  and I only wish I could have been able to push hard up them.    I am thinking that not riding  Old Flowers road or riding the MTB up to Rocky MTN park from Loveland as I had done previously didn't help me in the training department.  Hmm, I wonder how many of these guys have done as few races or miles as I have done?  That could be a big difference as to why I am not really able to “race” this thing, but merely survive.

    Looks Like I’ve got 2 more aid stations to go and I know the sections between the last 2 could be tough.   In any case I am in a slow rhythm and I am feeling OK.   I am still not pushing that hard and it just seems like I am riding this course instead of racing.  I guess I always feel this way during some portions but this year it seems like more than usual.

    Lots of dirt roads and trails that seem really familiar.   I guess I have done this enough that I know where I need to use some effort and where I can recover.   Seems like on all of the fire road descents I was pretty much soft pedaling, just to have something for the climbs.  

    At this point I would just like to be done, done, done.  I have what it takes to finish but I know I am not going that fast  and it seem like a death march.   Well, maybe not that bad, but the climbs on the fire roads are so boring and they seem to last forever.   I know I climbed so much better last year with a take it easy strategy on the 1st half and push on the second.   This year I didn’t feel like I would be able to push so I didn't at all. 

    I was glad to make it into some of the more technical sections and the bike is doing well here.   There was some rider coming up from behind, but he fell back on the technical stuff.  He eventually caught me a bit before the step ladder over the fence.

    At this point last year it was “go time” this year is was survive this one to live another day.   Every so often I would see another rider or so, some I would pass, others would pass me.    Right now I just want to make it to the next aid station.   It is slog to aid station 4 with lots of fire road.  This was the longest section mentally for me

    Seems like there is a line of us now as we had to slow down a bit for the ambulance and police car.   Someone had a pretty bad spill and we were way back there.   I am near the front of the train here and am able to ride my own pace.   Rider with me were clearly pretty tired and some words were exchanged when a rider failed to move out of the way on a climb, forcing the rider to dismount.

    I was so tired when I got to that climb that I always walk, I dismount early pushing the bike.  A few riders went by me, but I didn't care.   Pushing up that grade was pretty hard, but my legs were pretty happy to do something different for a while.   Many of the riders who passed me stopped to rest at the summit, but I just pushed on, recovering as I went on. 

    Looks like we are coming upon an accident, where it appears that a motorcycle and a racer collided. stunned  I think one of the riders in front of me knew the rider and they exchanged greeting and the downed rider gave him a message to pass on about being more/less OK.

    I know there is one last big climb before aid station 4 and this is where last year I was able to blast past a lot of riders.  This year I hung on the wheels of 2 riders in front of me bearly holding their pace, but  I didn’t want to fall back.  Eventually I did have to slow the pace, but at least the rider behind me fell off the pace before I did.   I was only a few seconds behind at the top and I knew aid station 5 was close.

    I was so happy to see aid station 5 and food.   Potatoes were on the menu which is just what I wanted, real food.  I probably spent more time here than last year, but I was close to cramping and I wanted to get some good fuel in.   At this point I am thinking that I probably didn’t fuel well and should have had a breakfast with more calories.  Last year I had a subway sub with chicken.  This year I had a veggie sandwich I made up from fixins and I think I could have been experiencing the result.  In any case, I take 6 enduralytes and some heed and some water mellon.   I wish I could have eaten more but there wasn't much else that looked appealing.

    Off I go for the final push.   Headquarters hill and all that.   If anyone thinks that this part is a walk in the park think again.  Yes there is some descending, but you have to climb up again.  Once again the fire road is so dreadful and I can’t wait to get into the single track.  I had forgotten how bad that 1st section is, and I found it just better to walk some of the rocky rooty stuff.   I was so glad to get back into the east coast stuff.

    The legs are OK at this point and feel better than they have in miles.  Hmm,  I think having good fuel is making a difference.   I pass a rider and then get passed but I am feeling OK.   I chose to walk some of the technical climbing stuff as I was too tired to yank and push and balance.

    Once all that rocky stuff was done, it was time to see if I could chase down the rider in front of me.   When I got closer to him, he hit the gas, but I gave a good chase.  I thought I maybe could catch him on the final technical descent, where I saw another rider walking, but this guy had skills and all I could do was stay even.  A bit later I knew the chase was futile so I settled into a brisk pace, but not with any sense of urgency. bummed

    I was starting to sprinkle a bit and it had been cooler for the last several miles.  I felt much better when it was cooler, which could be why I was able to push a bit an give some chase. 

    At last I see the road and  I know that it’s a little bit of a downhill and I am done.  Yeah, finally,  I have finished. happy   I was so hungry and I didn't care about my time, which was 8 hours 4 minutes, which is about 30 minutes slower than last year.  I felt like it would have been more than that, but I am good with it.whatevah

    Post ride,  a rider  asked me if I was the guy who writes this blog!   Turns out he liked what he read and used some of the info to help him prepare!  Nice to get some in person feedback once in a while.   A couple of other riders I met along the way thanked me for warning them how bad the climbing in the 2nd half was so they were prepared. 

    I wasn't too long when the rain came down and I was lucky enough to have Janet invite me into her camper to wait it out! It was nice to catch up with Janet (we did Leadville together in 2006 as part of Gales group). 

    Anyway, this could be the last enduro race for me for a while….whatevah  Results can be found here.