Getting Closer

It is a bit of a reality check to realize that the 2011 Dirty Kanza 200 is only 5 weeks away, and I have a feeling these next 5 weeks will go by rather quickly too. This has been a weird cycling year so far, lots of wind and quite a bit of rain which has lead to some shorter rides due to dangerous conditions and a lack of group rides. It is the same for most of us, we need to have decent weather on our days off of work to get a long ride in and there haven't been a lot of great weather days this year. I will say that I am really enjoying riding in the wind because it is good training and it is almost certain that we will encounter it at DK. I feel like I have a good base in but like I have stated before, I haven't got much interval training. That training usually comes with group rides and it just hasn't happened yet this year. Interval training isn't as important to me for DK because that race will be more about pace and perseverance but I am concerned about the lack of interval training for Lumberjack. When you really think about it my training for Lumberjack is complete at DK, because I will be in some serious recovery mode after DK. I say my Lumberjack training, that makes me smile because I haven't ridden much single track due to weather and I only have about 11 miles on my single speed this year!!! I'm not going to get worked up over that fact though.

Shoulder Update

Last night I was able to sleep the whole night without waking up in major pain, of course I got up at 2:45 so I really only slept half the night I guess. Sunday night was an agonizing night of sleep, I don't know how many times I woke up moaning and grimacing from the pain. Molly said I woke her up several times because I was whimpering in my sleep, if that doesn't make you feel like a man I don't know what will. Monday night was much of the same, the pain didn't wake me up as many times but it still kept me from getting a good nights sleep. Before I went to bed last night I put a large amount of Icy Hot on my shoulder (it was on fire) because it was causing more muscles to tighten up,this seemed to help quite a bit.

Today at work I was still being very careful with my left arm, and I wasn't having nearly the amount of sharp shooting pain episodes that I had been having. I could tell it is still very tight, the swelling has come down but it is still puffy. It is still very tender and my range of motion is very very limited, basically reaching back is not going to happen without a large amount of pain.

I don't think Molly was real pleased with me today because I decided I was going to ride my bike....twice. My body positioning on my road bike wasn't bothering my shoulder too much besides I need to keep it loose....right??? Okay maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do today but I really wanted to ride and I got in some good miles today, not very fast but I'm okay with that.

It's Amusing To Me

A person could look at just about any set of pictures from a mountain bike race and when you get to the podium shots there is almost always a picture that it would seem a homeless person worked his way into the photo. The guy has a beard so scruffy because he hasn't shaved in about 8 months and is wearing a button up short sleeve shirt that is pretty baggy on him along with some cut off shorts. Your thinking "What is this guy doing at a bike race?", and then you realize that he just kicked everyones ass on an all rigid fixed gear single speed!!! You didn't see his bike because he as done so early that he already had it loaded up before you emerged from the woods.

Actually that last little bit reminds me of my first race ever, it was a duathlon at Clinton Lake. I finally made my way to the finish line and pretty much everyone had already loaded their bikes and many people were already gone!!! I guess they didn't realize that they were going to get the opportunity to see a well over 200 lb guy with blood stains on his legs come staggering across the finish line, it was well worth the wait for those that saw it.

Bone Bender V3

Yesterday was the 3rd annual Bone Bender mountain bike race held at Clinton Lake in Lawrence, KS. I will say that Clinton Lake is a great place to work on your technical riding, many places require great balance and constant focus. Some of the hills I opted to run up because I felt like I would use less energy to run up then trying to ride. I drew first blood on the second lap on the first climb, I was following Lyle and we both were running up the hill when my foot slipped and down I went. It happened so fast, I was shocked that I was laying on the ground. I cut my knee just enough to bring blood to the surface (I think it got dirt in it and that kept it from bleeding) and put a big scratch/strawberry on my shin, it was actually kind of funny.

I was nervous before the race which it was just normal jitters, I think I was more nervous about how congested the first couple miles was going to be especially since the course started off with some technical rocky sections. These areas would slow you down and then of course the riders behind you too which many would have to put a foot down to wait so the line of walking would begin.



I do feel lucky to get the picture below of my pre race potty break, after all my race number was #1. I had text some guys about my race number and Jan text back, "If people yell go #1, you will think you need to go pee". I thought that was hysterical. (Photo courtesy of Brady Bernskoetter)



We got to run up a gravel road to our bikes, it was very similar to RIM a couple years ago. My bike was one of the last to get put in the staging area and it was down the road a ways so I got to run a little extra distance. I wasn't running real hard up the hill but I was panting pretty hard by the time I got to my bike. We had a short section of paved then we dumped onto a gravel section and then across a burned off grassy section and then finally we dropped into single track. After the first couple miles of very slow moving the riders started to get more of a gap, I tend to go out too hard and settled in on a relaxing pace. I was riding 3 deep in a line of riders when the pace got too slow, the second rider went around and I went with him thinking his pace would be much faster. He was faster for a bit but seemed to slow down so I went around and turned it on, maybe turned it on too much. I did have a great first lap and when I came through the pit area I stopped for about a minute, I usually like to pit after going through the timing area but we pitted just before. My second lap was at a pretty good pace too, I started to get some early signs of cramps in my calves toward the end of the second lap. I popped some endurolytes and chewed them up...YUMMMMY!!! That seemed to help and I also made sure to drink a lot of water as well.



I really slowed the pace down on my third lap, I didn't want to push the issue of cramping and I knew I still had a lot of miles left to ride. Pretty early in the 3rd lap, just before a drop in, I popped my shoulder out again. I did this last year and it hurt really bad then and guess what.....it didn't feel any better this time. I stuck my front wheel in a rock and it jammed my arms straight back and my left shoulder was out, the pain was so intense and I knew it needed to go back forward. I am standing straddling my bike with my left shoulder dropped down to reduce the pressure on this ultra painful spot and I rocked my shoulder back and then thrust it forward and back in she went. It was another burst of pain that I can't hardly describe, now I was doubled over the side of my bike while clutching my arm against my body and "expressing myself" in a very much out loud kind of way. I figured if I could just keep going the pain should lessen and my shoulder might stay loose from riding, it was the ride home I was worried about. It only took a few minutes for the pain to get to a manageable level, probably because I was more focused on the trail. Shortly after this incident I was walking up one of the rocky climbs when the guy in the picture below came by me, he asked if I was okay and told him I was just fighting off some cramps. As he powered up the hill he said "Tell them to F#@K OFF!!!" I started laughing, I couldn't help but smile.



While I was out on lap 4 I was starting to feel some fatigue, there were some really fast sections that I felt great on and that helped the lap seem to go faster. It was on this lap that the reality that I still had to finish this lap and then should be able to get 2 more laps started to settle in. I was tired and the course was taking it's toll on my body. I just kept staying after it and trying to ride smart which can be a challenge as your body fatigues. There was a rider that had passed me around lap 2 that I kept pretty close most of the race although it seemed like every time he saw me he would turn on the gas. On lap 5 he stopped to get a gel and I went around expecting him to be on my wheel soon along with another strong rider from the St. Louis area that I was able to pass. Toward the end of my 6th lap (about 2 miles left) there was a switchback and you could see riders that were behind you (this means they could see you too!!!) and I was only about 1/4 mile ahead of them so I knew I had to stay aggressive. I didn't go all out because I didn't want to blow up but I did amp up the watts and stay strong to the finish.




I ended up 6th in the Men's Open out of 13 riders, I was very pleased with these results. I did finish ahead of some riders that are much faster than I am like Cam Kirkpatrick because he stopped early and I did get beat by 2 guys in the Sport class but that's okay because I did have a good race, I'm hoping it just keeps getting better from here!!! If you want to check out the results go to http://www.moto-tally.com/TWC/Results.aspx

Made It Through The Day

WOW today was a rough one. Any persons job can be stressful and mine has a few times when it is but today was a bit overwhelming. I won't go into too much detail but trying to manage two peoples clashing personalities all while trying to do my own work was almost too much to take today. A little over halfway through the day I absolutely think I could have laid down and fell asleep in a matter of minutes, I was so tired from being mentally drained. That being said I am home now and all of that is past me, on to bigger and better things.

I got my new Thule roof rack for the van today so that was pretty cool, now I just have to assemble it. I did get out and ride the loop today, once again it was pretty windy out there (I know that is hard to believe for April). I am going to taper off my riding a bit this week with the Bone Bender 6 hr on Sunday, I will probably do a short ride Wednesday and another ride around town on Friday and then a preride of the course Saturday and then race on Sunday.

I need to set some time aside the next couple of days and go through my toolbox and totes and get all my gear together that I plan to use at the race. I put some more Stan's in my rear tire on my Epic on Saturday, it was pretty dry. I'm ready to make another attempt at getting Mary tubeless, I really want her tubeless for Lumberjack but if she isn't it will all work out.

Dreams And Theories

I had a dream the other night that I weighed 138 lbs which was really odd because the lightest I weighed myself last year was 162 lbs (I don't get on the scale but a couple times a year at best). So I thought I would check it out and what do you know 138....and then I lifted my other leg off the floor and put it on the scale. Just kidding, I didn't go near a scale although the dream was real.

I think we all have theories about many things but what exactly are theories but heories with a "t" on the front??? No seriously I'm asking because I have no idea, I mean I wasn't exactly an honor student in school.

Actually today while I was riding I was thinking about training in the wind, I personally love riding in the wind because it makes me stronger. It really sucks at the moment too many times but the reward is far greater. I do try to start out into the wind so I can finish with a tailwind but today I wasn't sure what kind of traffic there would be on Hwy 65 South of town so I opted to ride to Chula knowing there was a SSE wind and I would at least get a little push on the last couple miles coming back to town. I didn't realize just how much the wind was out of the South until I started heading North...Whoa, I was hauling tail. I was probably riding at an 8.5 out of 10 effort and was making great time, I ended up averaging 23.2 mph on the trip North and was still feeling really really good. That told me the wind was pretty strong out of the South and then I started riding back and it was soon a real eye opener to just how strong the wind was. I worked harder to get back home and only avg 16.7 mph...I don't know if my skirt was catching extra wind or if my heels were clipping the road on every pedal stroke. Since I had such a strong ride up my instinct was to really push on the way back to get the really good avg speed but one thing I have learned about riding in the wind is being steady. I was letting my muscles build up the lactic acid but not letting them get overloaded, there is a fine line here and I was trying to stay just below it. I don't like to ride in my drops when riding in the wind, I figure that the wind is a great training tool so why not create as much resistance as possible and get the full benefit. I was so excited to get to turn back to the West and head toward town at the latter part of my ride today. I was at a 20.0 avg heading into the last climb into town and I dropped to a 19.9 but I really didn't care, it was a good ride.

I've Got Needs!!!

Now that I have scared most of you with the title I guess I should expand on this topic. I have been getting in some good base miles but now it's time to move to the next phase and that is interval training. I will continue getting in long rides but I need the group ride atmosphere and need some of that leg ripping action. My first race, which is almost a month later than my first race last year, is just over 2 weeks away and I'm not sure how ready I am. What I mean by that is I don't feel explosive yet, the power that comes from those intense group rides that leaves me staggering when I get home. I know the race will be fun and will be good experience for the future. The lack of single track riding for a couple months has me a bit frazzled, I hope to get in a nice relaxed preride the day before the race. I want to really pick my lines in the technical areas, I hope this will pay off on race day. I think my Epic is feeling totally left out, I haven't ridden that bike since probably mid January.

I am taking off Saturday April 9th and there is a race at the River Trails in Lawrence that day, but it is Jonas' birthday so I will be staying home and celebrating his 4th birthday. There is a duathlon the next day but I am working, although I thought about going to work at midnight and then leaving a bit early to go race but I haven't done any running and it might be best to just save it for the next weekend.