TORC Endurance - 6BC - Rocks and Pain

This one was full of rocks and pain, but still fun. The atmosphere and people were great, lots of encouragement from the other riders etc. Would have liked to do a little better than I did. The SSers who beat me are especially motivating for next race, since I was on a full squish geared bike :). This was second race of the TORC endurance series was done at Briar Chapel. TORC crews have been building trails there for about a year or so. The race course had about 4 miles of singletrack and 2 miles of doubletrack and dirt road. The singletrack has some smooth flowy stuff, but a few sections of very rocky but flat stuff. Lots of upper body work. They also included a crazy rock garden that I hiked. The rocky stuff was not a big deal (other than the giant rock garden). I had more trouble pacing on the doubletrack and dirt road. In hind sight I should have taken some "salt" tabs, but I didn't and I had minor cramps for a good part of the race. I went out a little too hard the first couple of laps, with a avg HR around 162. I backed off some, but in the end I just continued to slow HR and pace. 

I jumped with the lead group from the start and stayed on the back of it. Didn't know it at the time, but it was full of heavy hitters. Backed it down about 1/3 of the way into the lap and let the leaders go. One interesting part of this course is there was longish 2-way doubletrack part, where you could see where people were ahead and behind you. Even on the first lap the leaders had a good gap as I went down the doubletrack to the creek. I cramped in this race some, more than LRRP for sure, so I would back it down. I swapped places with Jimmy Bean several times. He would get a huge gap on the doubletrack and dirt road and then I would catch him in the woods. Good fun. I fell off the last 2 laps and avg HR was slightly lower than LRRP. Brinn came out too, but bent his rear dérailleur and hanger so bad on the 2nd lap he couldn't ride it anymore. He switched to my XTC for the last few laps.

Lap  Time    Avg HR
1    38:17   162
2    31:36   162
3    31:45   163
4    31:59   162
5    32:27   160
6    32:48   161
7    34:06   162
8    34:01   158
9    35:24   154
10   35:03   151

Stats: 4th of 14 in division. 9th of 58 overall including teams, 61 miles, 335 mins, avg speed 10.9, avg HR 159, max HR 175, bike Anthem

Grumpy toward the end.

Rolling to the start/finish. The magic B in the background

Last lap, crusing in with Randy

TORC Endurance - Cry Me A River LRRP - Beginners Luck

After the XC season I wasn't sure what I would do over the off season. The local MTB club TORC puts on some endurance races over the winter so I thought I would give it a shot. I had never done an endurance race before. These are 6 hour races where the XC ones are usually an 1 and 1/2 or 2. The longest MTB ride I had done this year before prepping for this race was around 3 and 1/2 hours. The strategy is different for these longer races, basically lower effort and food and water intake are important to keep from cramping or "bonking". I talked to a few people who had done the longer rides and started doing longer rides at CNF. Quick semi-tangent.. I did a 5 hour ride on the bike I did the XC series on, which is a carbon HT 26er. It was fairly brutal, beat my hands and feet and upper body up a lot. I decided to get a new bike and went with a short travel FS 26er. I rode the same course, same distance on the new bike ... wait for it ... more that 26 minutes faster. Insane. Anyway, the FS has become my endurance bike. 

I rode Little River (LRRP) a few times which turned out to be great. The lines there are a little tricky at first, but if you find them you can flow a lot of it. Also helps to know where the real hurty parts are. Got to the race and prepped as best I could. Had 2 camelbaks, which I would switch 1/2 through, my gel "bomb", some clif shots and for the end some turbo caffeine gels. The vibe of this race was great, everyone is low key you don't really care about the hole shot so it is pretty relaxed in that sense. The start went fine. I wasn't pushing and probably went into the woods around 10th or so. I was watching my HR and had planned to try and run around 150-ish but was running 158 or so. Used other riders for pacing several times and ended up riding with a couple of other guys for several laps. As the laps went on my HR was right around 160, but I felt good. Anytime I was breathing hard I backed off. Trying to keep momentum everywhere I could to conserve energy. Coming around the 5th lap I planned to stop and change up camelbaks and it was perfect timing, I had drained the first made a quick stop and grabbed the second one. Hopped back in the singletrack. As I passed people a lot of times people asked what cat you were in etc. I came up on a guy who was going pretty good and turned out he was in the same cat. I sat on him for a bit and observed. He looked fast but a little fatigued. He stopped for water/food near the start/finish and I kept trucking. I slowly cranked it up for each of the remaining laps. Wondering if that guy might catch up too. Last lap I attempted to let it fly and did run the fastest of my laps. Came around at 5:30 ish which is past the 5:20 cut off, so I was done. Rolled over to the lap postings and to my shock saw I was the fastest solo up to the 8th lap. No one passed me on my 9th lap so I had won. Beginners luck :). I did pretty much stick to my plan which I was proud of and my lap times were pretty consistent, which was great. 

Stats: 1st of 11, 52.2 miles, 5 hours 30 mins, avg speed 9.8, avg HR 161, max HR 175

 
Lap Time    Avg HR
1     37:00     159
2     37:15     158
3     36:43     159
4     36:35     159
5     37:26     158
6     36:48     160
7     36:01     165
8     36:27     164
9     35:48     165

No pics for this one, but here is a video another guy did. You can briefly see me on the far left side of the road around 0:20. I have a blue and white jersey on with a white helmet.

SCS - Dark Mountain Race - NC XC2 30-39 State Champ

This race was the last of the series. I knew since the Fontana race it was between me and Brad for the NC state championship in our group. The scoring is complex enough I built a google spreadsheet to run "scenarios". Basically as long as we were in the top 5 (which was probable), Brad could beat me by one place, but not 2 and I would win the series. Brad and I talked crap in email for weeks before the race. I came out and rode Dark Mountain once before, which is a fun course so I had a decent idea of the terrain. It does have some elevation, but nothing like Fontana and is mostly smooth and bermed. A couple of fun downhills, especially the one that dumps out in the the grass field at the end. Brad and I went into the woods around 5th or 6th. We slowly passed the rest of the pack and I was in first and he was in 2nd as we came around from the first lap. This is us coming out of the singletrack. You can see Brad's number plate coming around the tree.

Went back in the woods and Brad fell off about 1/2 way through the lap. I would see him by switchbacks but after the last climb I hadn't seen him in a while and was looking for him. There is a doubletrack section from the top of the last climb to the last section of singletrack, which is pretty much all downhill. Somehow Brad caught me on the doubletrack, we cranked big ring and were in a drag race to the singletrack. Some poor slower guy from another class was about to get on the singletrack. We yelled "on your right" and must have sounded like a freight train and both of us passed him right before the singletrack. He may have stained his drawers. Brad managed to get in the singletrack before me. There are a few rollers and then the downhill. I keep with him until the downhill and he absolutely killed it. It was spectacular to watch. I knew I had won the series at this point if I could stay on the bike so I "laid up" on the downhill and stayed in control. Brad hit the field probably 75 ft in front of me. I sprinted after him, but couldn't close the gap. He won the race, which was great since he had like 5 2nds in the series but no wins. I got my best of the season 2nd and won the state championship. rock on. So what did I win for the 2nd place and the NC state championship? 2 crappy pairs of socks, some expired energy drink mix, a tire, a red tailight and a small "state championship" gold medal. hehe. It was all worth it though.

Stats: 2 of 14, 15 miles, 79 mins, avg speed 11.5, avg HR 165, max HR 173, bike XTC

SCS - Fontana Race

This was the farthest race from where I live, but I knew I was up in the series points, so I thought I would go out. I drove out and stayed in a hotel overnight. Driving to the race in the morning it was pouring rain, the radio said there were flash flood warnings, very wet. I knew there would be a lot of elevation here and there was, but I didn't know everything would be covered in 2 to 12 inches of mud. Registered and thought for a bit that Brad wasn't there (who was the serious threat for the series), but he got there late. They cut a lap off the race due to the conditions. Got a decent start but not great, probably 6th or so going into the singletrack right behind Brad. We passed a few people and he and I switched places a couple of times. Seemed like this course had no flats, either up or down and most was fairly steep. There is a 1.2 mile downhill at the end of the lap where they do downhill races that would probably be wicked fun if it hadn't been so wet. I was cautious on the downhills. Lots of approximate lines and letting it "float" through stuff. Brad had a small gap on me as we came through the start/finish to start the second lap. There is a road you ride for couple hundred yards and then take a left into singletrack. Brad for some reason took a right on one of the other roads. I thought he was bailing from the race. Didn't know why since he looked pretty strong. Turns out he just took a wrong turn. The first part of the singletrack has a 1/2 mile or so switchback climb. I heard him yelling from the bottom when I was about at the top. Didn't see him for the rest of the race. That was the only race I beat him in and only due to his route error. 

Stats: 3rd of 11, 14.6 miles, 110 mins, 7.94 avg speed, avg hr 163, max hr 174, bike XTC

This gives you an idea of the conditions.

TORC XC - Huck-a-buck @ Crabtree - How not to run a race

I went into this race over confident. I had ridden the course a few times and new it was "easy", with not much climbing and relatively smooth. Of course it was easy for everyone. My wife and kids were out of town that weekend, so I stupidly rode the day before at a pretty good clip (not the best idea in hindsight). I figured there wouldn't be too many heavy hitters at the local race anyway so why not? 

It was pretty warm maybe mid-nineties. Had a huge field. I went out fairly hot, was in the top 3 or so and just burned out in the last 1/3 of the race. 2 or 3 guys passed me and I couldn't hold on. You could see I lost 2 mins on each lap. Pretty disappointed in the performance, but the upside is it wasn't in the "big" series and I took away some hard learned lessons. 

Stats: 5th of 31, 17.25 miles, 90 mins, avg speed 11.5, avg HR 168, max HR 179, bike XTC

SCS - Sizzler Greensboro Race

This was the first SCS race I did this year, where I pre-rode the course. It is about 30 mins from where I work so I made a few trips out there and did one 3 lap run at speed in attempt to replicate the race. The pre-rides definitely help, mainly in identifying the fast and slow sections and lines to some extent. This course is pretty wide and fast in most section and not much climbing. I really like the use of a large grassy area in each lap. You probably do about a 1/2 mile around it. The grass itself probably has the most difficult climb which isn't that bad but burns a bit at speed. Got a decent start and went into the woods in top 5. Quickly worked through the field and rolled with a group of 4 guys. Led after the first couple miles for through the first two laps pretty much, probably should have let others set the pace (maybe). 2 guys passed me in the grass at the start of the 3rd lap and I couldn't hold on going into the woods. Looking at the results the guy who won, laid down a 25 something on the last lap no way I could have run that fast I was 2 mins off. Ended up with 3rd. The average speed was a ridiculous 14 on this course, by far the fastest of the season. I think overall this was my best SCS race performance, even though I got a 2nd later. I had three friends from work come out and race this race also. Two of them had never raced before. They all seemed to have a good time. Good fun overall.

Stats: 3rd of 21, 19.5 miles, 83 mins, avg spd 14, avg HR 166, max HR 174, bike XTC.

Coming out into the grass at the end I was near I guy that I knew was in the younger age group that started before us, but fun to chase him down to the finish anyway.

This is probably my favorite race pic of this season. I am on the right, my buddy is running beside us tour de france style (the tour was going on at the time). He was yelling "I love you man" and other stupid stuff. Trying to pass me a diet mtn dew. The guy I was racing said something like "you better keep going man". Hilarious

Nothing like sprint finishes with racers that aren't even in your race group. Completely worth it anyway.

TORC XC - Tarwheel Race - DNF Hell

This was definitely the disappointment of the season for me. The race is on my home trails. They are only about 2 miles from my house and probably 80% or more of my riding is done there. ... so I know the trails and course very well and had prepped for it. I had even worked with the crew to mark the course, marshalled the earlier race etc. The TORC series is lower key than the SCS stuff too, so I knew going in I had a chance to win it. Here is how the race unfolded.  I went into the singletrack first after drafting etters and another guy on the doubletrack (I felt a little bad about that... but only a little :) ). I gapped everyone on the first section of singletrack (spyderhole)  enough that I didn't hear them anymore after about an mile in. Felt good passed some of the younger guys in the class that started before us. I was rolling a good pace but keeping it in check. Then.... I flatted the rear on the outer loop of neverlands and proceeded to get super atomic pissed (this is where all rational thought ended). Fumbled around changing the tube with my spare and in my haste pumped it to about 20 psi. Lost 4 places during that episode and came around 1st lap in 5th. Check out my rear tire in this pic hehe. 

I passed the 4th guy on the doubletrack (although at this point I had no idea where I was in the pack). Dropped into spyderhole and some combo of thinking about how pissed I was instead of concentrating on a line and the loose back tire resulted in a fairly spectacular digger at speed, which included a helmet to tree connection. Hop back on and roll onto wormhole and pinch flat about a 1/4 mile in. No other tubes. So I walked/jogged it back out. Since this isn't USAC they would have let me put another tube in from my car and roll on, which I should have done, but my head wasn't right at that point. 

Moral of the story... keep a cool head and let yourself calm down. Rational thought good. Oh well lesson learned.

As a side note, these pinch flats pissed me off enough to start running tubeless tires. Have been running them since, they are great have had zero flats since switching.

SCS - Riverfront Classic Charlotte Race

This race was a highlight of the season for me. I had ridden the trails a couple times about 12 years ago when I lived in Charlotte and I even remembered a couple spots. More fun though was seeing an old buddy I used to race with in college. A couple of years ago he was a successful expert racer in the region, but recently had twins so hasn't been riding much. He was helping put on the event, but jumped into the Cat 2 race with me just for fun. He had no intention of finishing for those worried about sandbagging. This course had a fairly viscous starting run out. About 50 yards of grass and then instant singletrack with a mildly technical entrance. I staged on the front and got a decent jump. I remember the pack getting close to the singletrack and someone yelling "alright lets keep it calm, don't want to stack it up.." I went into the woods in about 3rd. My bud was at least 3 spots behind me. In what seemed like about 200 yards I heard him chatting me up right on my wheel. It was tight singletrack, no idea how he passed the others in there so fast. We cooked it for a little and he passed me using momentum up a short straight. The next few miles were ridiculous. Riding on his wheel on his home turf at warp speed. Many times I just let go of the brakes and trusted his line. He get a little worn down on the short climbs as we went so the guys behind us would catch us on the climbs and we would gap them on the next down. Great great stuff. He ran out of steam and I passed him about 1/2 way through the first lap. He knew the trails and caught me an several intesections to yell stupid stuff etc. I felt pretty good the whole race. I had 3rd until the 2nd lap and a guy passed me near the start/finish and I couldn't hold on. My bud hoped back on with me for the last couple of miles and I rode in alone. Great race.

Stats: 4th of 16, 19 miles, 106 mins, avg speed 10.7, avg HR 167, max HR 175, bike XTC

SCS - Danville Race

I went with a neighbor of mine up to this race. I was surprised to learn it is really only about an hour from where I live. The trail system is great. Good bit more elevation than the local trails, but not mountain stupid stuff. Some technical and some flowing stuff too. This race turned out to be the longest race of the season timewise, but that may be to my advantage a little. The support was great with water stations at several spots on the trail. On water station was right at the top of a very steep rooty climb, that is probably a hundred yards long. I was way out of breath at the top and then trying to grab water in a paper cup and drink it was comical. Only downside to these trails are they are right next to a sewage/water treatment facility. I thought a porta john had flipped over or something. This was one on the first races I tracked my position. I was in 3rd until the last 4 miles or so. I heard the guy who passed me for a while and was mentally thinking "let him pass and then stick to his wheel and grind him down". The afterburners weren't there though. After he passed I could not hold on and so ended up with a 4th. Best placing so far. 

On the bike side, this was the first race with the XT wheelset, XTR pedals and most importantly the layback post and my old trusty flite gel... ahhhhh.

Stats: 4th of 15, 22 miles, 135 mins, avg speed 9.8, avg HR 164, max HR 173, bike XTC

SCS - Spartanburg Stumpjump Race

This was the 2nd of two SC races in the series and the point combination of the two made up the SC state championships. This race is a good 4+ hour hike from where I live so I left at some ridiculous time in the morning to get there on time and then drove back all in one day. Was checking the bike out about 20 mins before the race and realized the back wheel was way out of true, not sure when I did that. The tire was almost rubbing the chainstays, without the rim brakes rubbing, I have no idea how long it was like that. I did a hasty true job and staged for the race. The race was a little moist but overall not bad, not much climbing. The Cat 2s did 2 laps the Cat 1s did 4. Glad I raced Cat 2. The field size was small. I grabbed a 5th and since this race has an extended podium I won some schwag for the first time in I don't know how long. A crappy "butt chamios" water bottle :) and some other minor crap. I am proud of it though. Also got a 3rd in the SC series, which was cool. Of course the guy that got second was riding an SS in cat 2, doh. Don't have any pics of this race. I should take a pic of the water bottle which is hilarious.

Stats: 5th of 10, 15 miles, 93 mins, avg speed 10.9, avg HR 172, max HR 180, bike XTC.

SCS - Harbison Race

I skipped the Tsali race, but I couldn't resist the Harbison race, which is only about 5 miles from where I grew up. I went down the night before and stayed with my brother. He and my Dad came out to watch me race. Good fun. As usual I had not preridden the course, so it was all a surprise. The course was pretty fast, but of course it was fast for everyone. I paced with Mike for the first 3/4s of the race and I guess it chewed him up since he fell off after that. I was certainly feeling the hurt at the end of this one. I broke into the top half too :).

Stats: 7th of 17, 20 miles, 101 mins, avg speed 11.9, avg HR 171, max HR 179, bike XTC.

Pain crossing the dirt road about 3/4 of the way through

SCS - Uwharrie Race

I had so much fun at the Hobby Park race I went out to Uwharrie the next weekend to race the 2nd SCS race. Like Hobby Park, I had never been to the trails before the race started. I had heard there was more elevation than most trails in the Triangle so was preparing for some climbing. It dumped rain the night before and the conditions were very wet. The start goes down a doubletrack for the first mile or so which was slick. At one point while we were still bunched up we were cruising at a pretty good clip. I was in the "pack" two wide and 4 or 5 of us all slid and stepped out 2 feet or so. I almost ruined my shorts. The rest of the race was high lit with 2 wheel slides and dirt boogers. There is some climbing there, but it isn't ridiculous and most of it is on doubletrack. My rear derailleur decided to stop working about 3 miles in. Just jammed with mud. The derailleur on this bike is low normal/rapid rise (i.e. sprung backwards) so unfortunately when it gets caked you can force it into a harder gear with the shifter, but it won't return to the lower gears. I ended up stopping and forcing the RD up near the top of the the cassette and just switching between the big and mid ring only. It was almost like single speeding, but crappier. I ordered ride-on cables for the bike after this which are da bomb. Also as a side note, I think I am the minority in this, but I really like low normal derailleurs with rapid fire shifters. The main reason is it is easier to shift to a lower gear, even when standing and normally when I really really need to shift it is to a lower gear. Ended up mid pack in this race, but the field was pretty spread out due to conditions. 

Stats: 8th of 16, 18 miles, 105 mins, avg speed 10.2, avg HR 164, max HR 174, bike XTC.

I don't have any pics of me at the race, but here is what the bike looked like afterward. 

SCS - Hobby Park Race

After many years off from racing (14 I think), I decided to try a race and see how it went. I bought a "new" bike off of ebay and I rode a bit for a couple of months over the winter. Then hiked out to Winston Salem to try the first race in the Southern Classic Series. I raced Sport (XC2), which was my old cat. The course had an unusual paved start, which is flat for couple hundred yards and then rises up a fairly steep road for mabye 1/8 mile and then dumps into single track. I intentionally set myself up at the back of the grid and made no attempt at a decent hole shot. To my surprise I was in the top 10 or so going into the woods. Some normal bunch up goofiness hit in the first section of singletrack, but then got pretty smooth. The course is fun. Relatively flowy, but with some grindy short climbs. Finished 15th out of 23, but I was pleased. 

Stats: 15th of 23, 13 miles, in 77 mins,  avg speed 10, avg HR 168, max HR 176.

Rolling the finish

Meeting the congratulatory crew :)