Winter Park Race 7 - The King of the Rockies

Winter Park Race 7, The King of the Rockies race was Saturday. In my pre-race post I questioned whether after peaking in early August and working night shifts for two weeks I could pull off a podium finish. The answer was a definitive "No"! Ramine eloquently summed it up by reminding me that "you only can make so many withdrawls from the bank before there is nothing left". Saturday, I had nothing left!

We left for Winter Park Friday night with a super crew of people. The crew consisted of Jo and I, Chris and Lizzy who were visiting from Maryland, John and Rachel from Denver, John from Phoenix Mulitsport and Lauren who kindly offered us all beds at her Condo. We all met at our place and grilled a few turkey burgers before hitting the road. Once we got to Lauren's laughs, stories, and smiles kept everyone up later than planned, but it was worth it. James headed up Saturday morning, but we didn't see him until after the race.

The race started in the town of Frasier, a 30 min bike path ride away from Winter Park. The first 3 miles was flat fireroad that lead to a long singletrack climb. My age group rode the entire 3 miles together in a giant pack. On the 29er I easily loitered at the front taking a few pulls, but mostly hanging out in second place. With about a half mile to go an RMR guy attacked and broke away from the pack. I caught him and rode his wheel to the singletrack. At the singletrack I pulled ahead into 1st for about five minutes before deciding to slow down. It didn't make sense for me to take the lead so early in the race, I was tired and there were still about 21 miles to go. Once I slowed down it didn't take long for a two man break to catch me followed by a straggler named Jason. I settled into 4th on the rest of the climb up to Morse Pass. Near the top, the trail flattened out then started a long technical descent. Jason and I rode together for the climb and most of the descent until I gapped him slightly near the bottom.

I posted this before, but you can see the landmarks I'm talking about on the profile below.

Here the course flattened out into nice singletrack except for a bump on the Chainsaw trail. I pushed hard on this section maintaining 3rd place and trying to make up some ground on the lead break of 2. At the D2 road climb I started cracking. It was about 1 hour into the race and I felt bad. My legs were strong but I just didn't have any energy. It was fatigue catching up to me. No matter how many GU's I downed or fluids I drank it wouldn't go away. I just couldn't bring myself to suffer, it was mind and body. Argh! Faster riders in my age group and the age group behind me slowly started to pass me, notching down my position one at a time.

By the time I reached the base of the last climb it was all I could do to turn the pedals over. It was obvious that my body was tired so I searched my mind for something, anything to get me up the climb. Eventually I found it and was able to focus and ignore my pain. I started the climb behind a Team GoLite expert woman, who set a good pace for me. I passed her near the top, just in time to look down and see a huge pack of guys climbing up below me. The thought of loosing even more position simultaneously disgusted me and gave me a shot of adrenaline to sprint to with. I sprinted in disgust the entire descent and short flat section to the finish. If it had only come a mile or two earlier I might have been able to work my way back up to 3rd, but that is a huge "if". I could have easily cracked before crossing the line.

I finished 6th out of 30 in my age group, 13 seconds behind 5th place which is my personal "hard deck" to always finish above. I'm really disappointed in myself and feel like I tarnished a good season with a poor result in the last race of the summer. I knew I was on the downside of my peak, but I could have been much more pro-active in managing my sleep and minimizing fatigue while working the night shifts leading up to the race. I believe I could have won this race if I prepared for it correctly and the lesson to walk away with is that proper preparation involves more than just training and form. In hindsight it's clear to me that I lost this race before I ever clipped into my bike Saturday morning and I have no one to blame but myself. With that I'll put my bat away and say that even though I'm not happy with it, 6th isn't terrible considering how bad I felt and I'm grateful to have been able to race period. At least I didn't get 7th!

Jo finished 2nd and even though she only raced 5 out of 7 races this year she won the series. Good job Jo!!! Chris, Lizzy, John, and Rachel were all at the finish. Chris got a few pics of us finishing and then we all hung out for hours through the awards ceremony waiting to see if we could win a Spot Singlespeed that was being auctioned off. John and I killed some time exploring the terrain park and took some shots. I'll post those soon.

John from Phoenix raced in his second mountain bike race ever and James finished the series winning 2nd place in Expert men. Congratulations James!

King of the Rockies - Pre Race

The King of the Rockies race, the last of the Winter Park series is this weekend. This will be my last race for a while. I underestimated the toll that the last 3 races in 3 weeks took on my body. In hindsight it was a stupid idea to do all three. I'm definitely burned out and fighting knee pain and IT Band syndrome. The King of the Rockies will be my last race in Sport Class and I really want to win it. NORBA requires that if you finish top 5 in 5 races you move up to the next class. If I finish top 5 in the King of the Rockies that would be 5 in 5 for me. Even if I don't, I still I feel obligated to move up next year just to ensure equal opportunity for others and be a good sport.

My original plan was to put together a solid training block last week and taper this week for one final jump start of my form. A work schedule filled with night shifts and crashing on the Monarch Crest trail de-railed any training block that I might have put together. That said my form isn't totally lacking. I did manage to set a new personal record up Flagstaff with Ramine last week, 38:18 to the mail boxes. I guess only the future will tell if the podium is to be mine tomorrow. It's a 25 mile race on a course that I have never ridden before and it's the last one of the series so everyone is going to riding stronger than normal. With good execution and a little luck I think I can do it, hopefully my last sport race will be one to be proud of.

Course:

Elevation Profile:

Climb Gradients:

Monarch Crest Trail

Doug, Jean-Paul and I rode the Monarch Crest Trail last week. I was right in the middle of 5 graveyard shifts, but the Monarch Crest is an epic so I had to find a way to go. My plan was to rest all day Sunday and Monday so that I could go without a nap for the ride on Tuesday, then recover with a day of sleep on Wednesday. Sunday evening, on the bike ride to work, my cleat broke and that plan disintegrated with it. Monday instead of riding home and sleeping, I spent all day trying to get home from work. Angela and Doug eventually got me the 40 miles home, but I didn't have time to rest before having to load up my bike and go back to work that night. I was exhausted. I got off work at 7:00am Tuesday morning and had to be back at 8:30pm that night. It's a 3 hour drive to the Trail head, plus a 3-4 hour ride with a shuttle on one end and 3 hours back.

The Monarch Crest Trail is nestled at the Southern end of the Collegiate Mountain Range in Colorado's central Rocky Mountains. The trail starts with a 1,000' climb from Monarch Pass along the Continental Divide up to 12,000' near Pell Pt. Then it traverses the West side of the Divide and the 13,971' peak of Mt. Ouary to the Silver Creek Trail. After that, the Silver Creek Trail descends down a mix of singletrack, tight aspen forests, exposed babyhead fields and creeks to the Rainbow Trail. The ride finishes off on the rolling Rainbow Trail which dumps onto Hwy 285 west of Poncha Springs.

After some minor delays I was on the road by 8:00am. I made good time, fueled by excitement and Mountain Dew, rolling into the lot at Poncha Springs at 10:30am. Jean-Paul and Doug were waiting for me in his Element. We loaded up my bike and headed up the mountain to the trailhead located in the parking lot at the top of Monarch Pass. I downed a coconut juice on the way up and made a mental note to respect my lack of sleep and ride conservatively. We changed, gu'ed and were riding by noon. Doug and Jean-Paul were on their Superfly's, while I opted for full suspension and rode the Superlight. It was weird being on a 26" bike, and the more I ride the 29er the less I like 26" wheels. Throughout the ride, I never felt at home on the Superlight.

About 1 mile up the climb I remembered that my keys were locked in Doug's Element. We would need them to run the shuttle up to Monarch Pass after the ride. Jean-Paul volunteered to ride back to get them, which I happily agreed to. I used the opportunity to stretch and adjust a new seat I mounted on the Superlight. It didn't take long for Jean-Paul to make it back, sporting my keys with a smile on his face.

Crisis Averted

Climbing up the Crest Trail

We all rode strong the rest of the climb, taking turns pulling from Monarch Pass to the top of the ridge. The trail followed the Continental Divide past Mt. Peck, Pell Point, Chipetet Mountain, and Mt. Quray. With the treeline below us, the Crest Trail was open and mostly straight, it treated us to rocky, high speed sweeping turns and incredible views. Below us the grass gave way to trees which outlined the top of narrow valleys that merged into larger valleys like fingers of a giant hand sprawling out thousands of feet below. Our only company at altitude was a few clouds and the distant rocky peaks of the Collegiates to the north. It felt like we were riding on top of the world. On the Divide I made sure to take the opportunity to relieve myself in both Texas and California's water supplies at the same time!

On Top of the World

On the shoulder of Mt. Quray the trail dipped back down to the tree line and changed character into snaking singletrack with tight turns. I stopped to put on my vest while Jean-Paul and Doug rode ahead. I soon caught Doug, who had spotted a yellow-bellied marmot on the side of the trail. He was a big marmot and deserved a picture. We caught up to Jean-Paul at the top of the first descent down to Marshall Pass. It's a long, fast doubletrack with lots of small kickers. I was the first one down and waited at the bottom for a long time before I rode back up to find that Jean-Paul had flatted. He was fixed by the time I got up to so we all descended the doubletrack together.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

The second climb of the ride followed the west side of the ridge from Marshall Pass to the intersection of the Silver Creek trail. My lack of sleep started kicking in so I let Doug and Jean-Paul go. I had no energy and the climb hurt, but just to being in the mountains was enough to keep me going. At the top I recovered with a bar while we re-grouped and headed to the Silver Creek Trail. This is an important intersection not to miss, if you do it's a 60 mile retrieve in Saquache.

Cracked

Critical Intersection

The Silver Creek trail is the steepest descending of the ride. It's filled with steep switchbacks, tight aspen forests, exposed baby head fields and finishes down the center of Silver Creek. The views are spectacular and the landscape is extreme. About half way down we were treated to a surreal scene. The trail descends a steep shale ledge. To the left of a jagged rock wall towers thousands of feet above, while to the right a patchwork of clear-water beaver ponds stretch across the entire width of the valley below. Near the end, the valley narrows down to a few hundred feet wide into a geographical bottle neck called The Gate. The only room for the trail is in Silver Creek itself. It wasn't deep, but the water was cold and you wouldn't want to put a foot down.

Silver Creek Trail

(baby heads)

Silver Creek

Silver Creek continues left down the valley, while the Rainbow Trail breaks off to the right. The Rainbow Trail contrasts the open alpine singletrack of the Crest Trail and rocky descending of Silver Creek Trail with flowing, wooded hardpack singletrack. It's a net elevation loss, but it feels mostly flat with quite a few creek crossings sporting steep drops and climbs on either side. It's the kind of trail that would be more at home on the East Coast than in the Rocky's. It's also fast, super fast. It's so fast that I gave up on my plan to ride conservatively and got a little too carried away, crashing about 3 miles in. It was a bad crash, the worst I've had this year. I was riding on the edge my tire's grip, washing both tires around a right hand descending turn when my front wheel hit a rock. It wouldn't have been a big deal on a 29er, but the 26" wheel just hung up instead of rolling over the rock. I hit the ground hard, impacting my head, right shoulder, hip and knee.

The Culprit

Ouch

It stunned me pretty bad and I laid there for about 10 minutes fighting the urge to throw up from the bump to the head. Jean-Paul was first on the scene followed by Doug. Once he realized I was okay he jumped into action fixing my handle bars, which had slipped in the stem. I could tell by their expressions they both were concerned, but some cold water down my helmet revived me enough to get up and soon I started feeling better. I should have respected my sleep deprivation and kept my speed down, but the sweet single track was just too good to go slow! The geometry differences between my bikes was a factor too, I got caught up in the trail and forgot what bike I was on. After about 25 minutes of down time I felt good enough to ride again and attacked the trail, determined not to let the crash set me back. I regained my confidence quickly, but was careful not to ride the Superlight like it was a 29er anymore.

Rainbow Trail

As we settled into the roller coaster like rhythm of the Rainbow Trail Jean-Paul pulled ahead, while Doug and I conserved. We both cracked near the end last year and didn't want to repeat our mistakes. While riding ahead Jean-Paul claimed to have an encounter with the illusive Rocky Mountain forest chicken. The forest chicken is a flightless bird capable of incredible speeds and agility. When startled they are known to run along mountain bikers, but they are an evasive species that are rarely seen. I was skeptical at first, but I did see evidence of forest chicken droppings in the supposed area of the encounter. We sported huge grins down the Rainbow Trail's final switch back descent to Hwy 285. There we regrouped and took turns pace-lining on the shoulder back to Poncha Springs.

Huge Grins

The Monarch Crest is quintessential Colorado mountain biking. It's on my short list of western classics like Porcupine Rim, the Downeville Downhill, Wasatch Crest, and other sections of the Colorado Trail. Unfortunately, because it is part of the Colorado Trail it is being threatened with closure to cyclists. Many equestrians and hikers are complaining about the large number of cyclists it draws. In late summer it gets pretty crowded and you wouldn't catch me near there on a weekend. I hate crowds and can sympathize with closure proponents, but I don't think that closure is the only option. A shared access plan similar to others in use on sensitive trails which offer hiking only on certain days of the week is the best option in my opinion. This serves both communities allowing each can enjoy the trail in harmony. IMBA is working with the Forest Service to secure mountain biking access to the Colorado Trail. You can read more Here and Here.

Julien Wins 2nd Olympic Gold, Americans Tank

Follow up of previous post.

Julien Absalon wins his 2nd Olympic Gold Medal, click Here. Americans Tank, click Here.

Julien on his way to Victory. Photo: Casey B. Gibson

The Olympics and Mountain Biking

With the men's and women's Olympic mountain bike races coming up this weekend, I thought I'd post some relevant links.

The Course

The Olympic mountain biking course was at first thought to be to easy. It consisted of mostly groomed double track and at a test run held last year most riders complained that the hardest thing about the course was sweltering heat and choking pollution. In response Chinese Olympic officials narrowed and filled the course with rocks, drops, berms, climbs and descents. Read the full VeloNews article Here.

Here is a Google Earth Image that I downloaded the Mountain Biking Course into.



Rocky Climb, Photo: Casey B. Gibson



Rain

The Women's Cross Country race was postponed until Saturday due to heavy rains. Now both races will be held on Saturday with the women's race starting at 10:00am and the men's starting at 3:00pm. Read the full VeloNews article Here.

Mens Contenders

Frenchman Julien Absalon who won the gold medal in the 2o04 Olympics has been the unquestioned victor of World Cup cycling for years and is the favorite to win gold in 2008. This year he is being challenged by Christoph Sauser of Switzerland, who may have a real shot at the gold even though he has been recovering from an infected knee injury since July. NBC article Here.


Adam Craig and Todd Wells were selected by USA Cycling to represent America this weekend. You can read about Adam's preparations Here and Todd's Here both posted on MB Word. Todd competed in Athens in 2004, while 2008 is Adam's first Olympics. Adam has had a breakout year on the World Cup circuit, you can read more on his blog Here. I met Todd Wells briefly when he flew on my plane from his home in Durango to Denver International Airport. I recall his as a down to earth, super nice guy. You can read more on his blog Here.

Adam Craig, Photo: Rob Jones

Todd Wells, Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Unfortunately, I'll be working during the race, but I'll be rooting for Adam and Todd. Go USA!!!!

Roof Racks and Garages

When it comes to bikes, roof racks and garages a particular saying comes to mind; "There are those that have and those that will." Of course what I'm referring to is forgetting your bike is on the roof rack and driving into a garage or low overhang. At the Rio Stampede race in Steamboat everyone had to park in a parking garage and carry their gear to the start area. As Jo and I were making trips back and forth to the car I spotted a weird looking bike mounted on a roof rack. A closer look revealed that it was a Trek Fuel and it looked weird because it was cracked in three places. The most obvious crack was on the down tube and the seat tube, which was completely sheared off.

The owner showed up that morning to race and forgot his bike was on the roof rack. As he drove into the lower level of the parking garage the bike met concrete and lost. Arghhhhhhhhh! I could only imagine his grief. Well actually I have experienced the feeling, as I fall into the "those that have" category. When I moved from Maryland to California I didn't see a low hanging tree branch and sheared my fork out of the mounts cracking the skewer receiver. It was minor damage and hopefully embarrassing enough to prevent me from doing it again. Knock on wood... As Jo and I were walking our bikes out of the garage to mount on the rack we heard a weird scraping sound. URRR. URRR. URRR. URRR. It was what was left of the seat tube scraping each concrete girder of the garage. The owner was obviously so distraught he left the mangled bike on the rack as he pulled out of the garage.

Training Update 8-18-08 - Looking Forward

After the steamboat race I wanted to use last week to recover and let my body heal a little. I covered 89 miles in 5 hours and 13 minutes over 3 rides all on the road bike. Wednesday, Doug and I rode 48 miles from Boulder out to lefthand canyon up to Ward and back over Old Stage. Lefthand is a great climbing ride that doesn't hurt my knee too bad. Saturday I rode 4 miles before a wall of water forced me to turn around. Sunday I rode 37 miles to work. I was running a little late, but determined to ride my bike so I time trialed the entire way. I made incredible time and would have easily shaved 10 minutes off my previous best time when 6 miles from the airport my left cleat shattered. I had to pedal the last 6 miles using only my right leg. I found if I shifted into a hard gear I could use the resistance from the pedal to keep my left food planted, but I couldn't put any power into it. I still set a personal record covering the 37 miles in 1:58 minutes in light traffic and only a few red lights.

Looking Forward

I think I peaked in perfect time for the Laramie Enduro and now that it's been a couple weeks I definitely feel like I have de-trained a little. Two races in the two weeks after the Laramie has probably contributed to that feeling. All three have taken a toll on my body and some recovery is in order. Looking forward for the rest of the year I have two goals. I'd really like to do well in the last Winter Park Race over Labor Day weekend. It will be my last race in Sport Class and the podium will be much harder to earn a spot on in Expert next year. I have just under two weeks to recover and train for that one, and with a hectic work schedule it's not looking good. After Winter Park I will shift my focus to the 24 Hours of Moab. Brandon and I are planning on doing a Duo Pro team. I'll be the slower rider, but I'll have experience and intimate course knowledge on my side.

The Colorado Trail, Park County

Rain

Forecast Discussion Saturday, August 16, 2008

SHORT TERM...UNUSUALLY STRONG UPPER LOW FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR OVERNORTHWEST COLORADO AT THIS HOUR WILL MAKE SLOW SOUTHEASTWARDPROGRESS ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT. MODELS SHOW THE CENTER OF THE500MB LOW OVER THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE BY THIS TIMETOMORROW. HAVE ALREADY SEEN A STEADY DECREASE IN PRECIPITATION INTHE MTNS AND ALONG THE FRONT RANGE IN THE PAST FEW HOURS. CLEARINGHAS ALSO OCCURRED IN THE DENVER METRO AREA PARTLY BECAUSE OF A SHIFTTO DRIER SWLY FLOW OFF THE FOOTHILLS. WITH A STRONG WESTERLY JETSITTING OVER SOUTHERN COLORADO...QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS SHOWFAIRLY STRONG DEEP LAYER ASCENT OVER EAST-CENTRAL AND NERN COLORADOAT THIS HOUR. AS THE UPPER LOW SHIFTS SOUTHEAST SO WILL THIS REGIONOF SYNOPTIC SCALE LIFT. BEFORE THAT HAPPENS...SHOULD SEE NUMEROUSSHOWERS AND SCATTERED T-STORMS LINGERING ON THE PLAINS OF NERN ANDEAST-CENTRAL COLORADO THROUGH THIS EVENING. A FEW STORMS EAST OF ACHEYENNE-LIMON LINE MAY BECOME SEVERE DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS INRESPONSE TO RELATIVELY STRONG LOW/MID-LEVEL SHEAR DEVELOPING ON THENERN QUAD OF THE ADVANCING UPPER LOW. SHORT-LIVED WEAK TORNADOES ANDLARGE HAIL THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. NEXT...THE THREAT FORFLOODING HAS DECREASED...PARTICULARLY IN THE FOOTHILLS AND I-25URBAN CORRIDOR. COULD STILL SEE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL FROMCONVECTION GENERATED BY LATE AFTERNOON SOLAR HEATING...BUT THECHANCE FOR FLOODING NOW APPEARS QUITE LOW IN THIS AREA. THEREFOREWILL CANCEL THE FLOOD WATCH FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND THEI-25 URBAN CORRIDOR WITH THIS AFTERNOON/S FORECAST ISSUANCE. HOWEVERWILL CONTINUE THE WATCH UNTIL 12Z/SUNDAY FOR POINTS EAST OF THE I-25URBAN CORRIDOR WHERE SHOWERS/T-STORMS TRAINING OVER ALREADY VERY WETSOILS COULD DUMP 1-3 INCHES OF RAIN. IN THE HIGH COUNTRY...COULDSTILL SEE LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING SHOWERS-TSTORMS PRODUCING A MIX OFRAIN AND SNOW GENERALLY ABOVE TIMBERLINE. HOWEVER ANY ACCUMULATIONSHOULD BE LOCALIZED AND LIGHT.

Summarized: COLD and RAIN, lots of it!

In Colorado we get spoiled by endless days of sunny skies. It's been raining for the past 18 hours and I'm already depressed. After getting only one ride in last week I was overwhelmed by the need to sweat today and headed out during a break in the clouds. That break turned out to be nothing more than a sucker hole. I managed to get about 4 miles in before the skies opened up and I was engulfed by a wall of water. On that theme I thought I'd post some shots I took took from the parking lot of the hotel in Laramie the night before the Laramie Enduro. HDR was my format of choice so I could capture the foreground without bleaching out the sky and clouds. I didn't have a tripod, so they aren't super crisp, but I think it gives a nice effect. Who says you can't find beauty in a parking lot?







In Laramie the Rainbow ends at Applebee's!